《Oasis》


 Chapter 1

    The sun beat down relentlessly on the boy¡¯s back. Several whippings had left his shirt little more than rags which did little to protect him from slowly burning up, the slow throbbing warmth of sunburn providing an aching counterpart to the sharp sting of the cracked wounds left by the slaver¡¯s whip. Life as a slave had been unpleasant ever since his village had been raided a month ago, the fighters slaughtered and the terrified survivors added to the train of captured women and children, reduced to little more than another form of valuable to be hoarded.


    The last few days had been living hell. Before that, some effort had gone into keeping the slaves alive, making sure that they were fed and watered, and occasionally giving the slowest ones a short break by tossing them on the camels like lumpy bags of grain. Now they employed the whip constantly, urging the captives to greater and greater speeds. Those who couldn¡¯t keep up, either from exhaustion, age, or sickness were cut loose and left to die. Kairen had never ventured into The Shifting Sands before this, but some older slaves had and word slowly passed up and down the chain lines. A sand storm was brewing. Worse, the sheer number of captives was straining the Navigator¡¯s ability to find a way out of the Sands, forcing the slaver captain into doing some brutal calculus.


    The boy and every other slave knew that sheer greed was the only thing keeping them alive. The instant the slavers lost hope in making it out with their loot, the slaves lives were forfeit. The whip was employed as a matter of course, but it was hardly needed. Everyone knew just what was on the line, and the hourglass was running out.


    A commotion up at the front of the caravan caused a slight slowdown as everyone did their best to angle themselves so they could see what was happening. In a brutal manner, the slavers were cutting their losses. Unable to guarantee their arrival at a city with all their captives, they were doing what they could to make it there with most of them, the ones that would bring in the most profit while still giving them the best odds of survival. Those they had deemed dead weight were given a horrible fate. Armed with a wicked axe, the captain didn¡¯t take the time to fumble around with keys to the sets of manacles. One swipe cut them free of the line, leaving their hands locked in place, while a second cut crippled them.


    It was a sadistic decision by those who placed no value on the lives of others. With no hands and injured legs the odds of making it to safety once left behind were nigh impossible. However, being left alive gave the caravan a slim chance of the brewing storm changing focus. Down the lines the butchers went, completely ignoring the pleading wails as they culled the weakest and oldest.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    The mood among the surviving captives was much grimmer after that. To be caught up in the sandstorm was a horrible fate, where death was a certainty and it was only a question whether the sand would flay or suffocate someone to death first. Compared to that, an uncertain future as a slave was vastly preferable. Every act of coldblooded murder slowly tipped those scales, as their willingness to aid their captors plummeted. Slowly but surely the caravan¡¯s speed dropped.


    Twice more the slave captain went down the lines, wielding his executioner¡¯s axe. Neither measure seemed sufficient however, and a stammering Navigator could be seen having a quiet conversation with the leader. No one could hear what passed between the two, but it wasn¡¯t hard to guess if the leader was happy or not when he hewed the Navigator¡¯s hand off. The slave captain looked like he wanted to do far worse, but actually killing the Navigator would leave everyone stranded in The Shifting Sands. Instead he turned his rage towards the prisoners, in what would be the most thorough culling yet. The boy had been lucky the previous times, but this time his luck ran out.


    Perhaps he still had a spark of defiance in his eyes. Perhaps his father had achieved a small degree of success fighting off the slavers before being overrun. Perhaps he was simply too far down the line and the leader needed to remove more people. Whatever the cause, the boy was soon left writhing on the ground, missing his hands and with his left leg hamstrung. Blinking tears out of his eyes he watched as the slavers slowly vanished into the heat haze of the distance, leaving him and his unlucky companions to their fate.


    A few had already perished, their weakened condition unable to endure the wounds inflicted. Most simply lay where they fell, crying in pain and fear. Those who still had a measure of strength had taken towards crawling towards other people, seeking a measure of comfort from physical contact in their last moments. Already the boy could feel the beginning of the sandstorm, as the wind carried stray pieces of sand to lightly pepper his face and arms. He knew his end was here, but he had too much energy and fear to simply wait for death to take him. Using his elbow, he slowly levered himself upright. Lightheaded from blood loss, he tucked his stumps of arms into his armpits to try and stop the bleeding while he limped forwards. He could barely see through the haze of pain, and rings of blackness threatened to swallow his vision with every step he took, but he kept moving forwards. The storm arrived with a vengeance, the wind knocking him down with ease and the thick sheets of sand blinding the rest of his vision. With eyes clutched against the storm, the boy began to crawl forwards, unwilling to stop moving even if all he was doing was crawling in circles.


    Eventually he collapsed, too tired to go any further. Half suffocated with sand, half dead from blood loss, and with his skin little more than a rough patch of red, the boy tried to take one more breath before failing, his eyes staring blindly forwards as darkness took him.

 Chapter 2

    The silence is what woke Kairen. The sandstorm that had slowly buried him had abated, giving way to a peaceful silence. Looking upwards from where he lay, he could already see the sun overhead, a good distance along its celestial path. He¡¯d lost track of time, there in the storm, but it was clearly the next day. The sun was bright enough to make him wince, and he closed his eyes while he slowly took stock of his situation. For the first time in weeks his back no longer stung. Kairen wasn¡¯t sure if he was just too far gone to feel the pain, or if the storm had simply scoured his nerves away. It felt like his hands were present again, and Kairen took a moment to revel in the phantom sensation, basking in the warm sunlight as he did so. For a little bit of time he simply lay there.


    It took a little while for Kairen to begin thinking again, but his first thoughts were of despair. He had made his peace with the world, bleeding out in the middle of the storm. He had given up hope, and had focused on what came next; being reunited with his father, mother, and sisters. But instead of the afterlife Kairen was waking up here in the desert, with no one else around. What little mental composure he had gathered was brutally assaulted by that thought.


    Sure, a small part of him wasn¡¯t quite ready to give up, was eager to struggle and fight for survival in the face of impossible odds. However the vast majority of his consciousness realized that the odds were truly impossible. Even if he had miraculously survived the sandstorm, that still left him in the middle of the Desert, with crippled legs, no food or water, and no Navigator or Pathfinder to help find the way out. His death was no less inevitable than it had been in the middle of the storm, it would simply come from a different source. Blood loss from his oddly painless wounds, infection from the same, dehydration, sunstroke, or a wandering monster. It was just a question as to what exactly would be the first danger to do him in. None of those options were clean methods of death, and the uncertainty surrounding his situation made it even less likely Kairen would be able to gracefully prepare himself for his end. He was meant to greet death as a man, not as a boy!


    In frustration, Kairen rolled over onto his stomach and raised his arms to start beating the ground. It was childish, but he was allowed to be childish after what he had been through. Even Papa had lost his temper at times. The wild flailing and screaming helped as he vented his frustrations on the world and soon Kairen felt a little bit better, even as his tantrum continued.


    The lack of impact of flesh on sand caused him to stop in confusion, once he noticed it. Even if he truly couldn¡¯t feel anything he ought to at least notice the increased muscle strain from digging into the sand. He opened his eyes. Pristine sand became visible, unmarred by any impact whatsoever. Strangely, looking around further, Kairen couldn¡¯t even make out where he had been resting before he rolled over. Bringing his arm out in front of him¡­ didn¡¯t change things.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Kairen was even more confused. He knew he had just moved his arm in front of his face, and yet he couldn¡¯t see anything there. Even if his hand was missing he should have still been able to see the stump left behind. There was nothing there, even as he continued to raise his arm up until he should have been looking at his elbow.


    He wiggled his fingers. He could feel them wiggling, but he couldn¡¯t see them. He had thought the strange sensation was what old Gerko talked about with his missing leg, but now he wasn¡¯t so sure. Closing his eyes, he moved his hand back down to his side before bringing up his other arm, positioning it directly over his eyes. He could still see the sand perfectly fine, even though his vision should have been blocked. Maybe his eyesight was wrong and he was actually hallucinating everything? Trying to smack his forehead led to his hand passing into the space he knew his head occupied. There was a strange feeling of dissonance that was enough to cause Kairen to hastily jerk his hand away as he rolled himself away and onto his feet. He looked down to try and take in the rest of his body, only there was nothing there.


    Kairen turned left and right, trying to catch sight of himself, but his best efforts were to no avail. He simply couldn¡¯t be seen. It felt like he was standing upright and shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he turned, but there was nothing to see, not even a shadow. As he spun around for the third time, his attention caught on something different from the omnipresent golden sand. Moving around was thankfully still within his capabilities and he drew closer, only to realize that the object was a dark skinned arm, presumably connected to a body that was buried underneath the surface. A shift in the prevailing wind seemed to support that theory, as it slowly blew away more and more sand. Slowly a shoulder was uncovered, followed by a sandy mat of hair. Something unpleasant was welling up inside Kairen, but he couldn¡¯t tear his gaze away from the strange spectacle in front of him.


    The body was tilted, so an ear was the first part of the face exposed, followed by an eye, closed against the elements. The bridge of the nose followed, and enough of the mouth below it was uncovered for Kairen to finally recognize the face he was looking at. He¡¯d seen it often enough in basins of water or in the copper mirror his mother had. It was his own face he was looking at, only this time it wasn¡¯t a reflection. The discovery of his body was one shock too many, and for the second time he welcomed the darkness that claimed him as he passed out.

 Chapter 3

    Night had fallen when Kairen woke once more. Even if he no longer had a body, the rest had been good for his mind and soul. He had managed to regain a measure of his composure, helped by the fact that his corpse was no longer visible in the dark. He glanced over towards the spot he knew it was half buried at, but his gaze was slowly tugged upwards towards the night sky. Kairen wasn¡¯t a young child; he had been awake after dark many times before now and had certainly seen stars before. Never like this though. It was a new moon, and with its absence the sky was a tapestry of color and light. Nebulae streaked the sky like crude brushstrokes, while closer and brighter stars flared like beacons, each one a promised guide to some far off destination. Even the dark areas had their own beauty, as Kairen¡¯s sight adjusted and he could begin to make out the millions of dim lights scattered like grains of sand in the background.


    Kairen had heard of Astral Navigators, a rare breed of Pathfinder with the ability to find their way to their destination using the light of the stars, but it was only out here in the Sands that he truly began to appreciate their ability. A thousand thousand stars, and a city resting under each one, perhaps. The only way to know for sure is to take the chance and follow each celestial beacon in turn, with answers only waiting at the end of the journey. Some might lead to death by monsters or accidents, but others would lead to mining camps or trading posts, farming villages or sailing ports. A rare few might even lead to the desert cities, with fountains in every square as a show of wealth, and a thousand princesses to be embroiled in plots and stories.


    ¡°I would have liked to see some of them.¡± Kairen admitted quietly, as his thoughts once again returned to his strange situation. He was dead and yet not, and he was still just starting to understand what his new existence would mean.


    No longer was he destined for a cruel life as a slave, but it was hard to appreciate that blessing. A month ago he had still had a family, a home in a tiny town filled with friendly people. He had had dreams for the future, dreams of unlocking a Talent, of traveling the world, of rescuing a princess just like the stories talked about. Even if that last had been unlikely, it was still a dream that had been torn away from him along with everything else.


    A dull flapping of wings announced the arrival of a new character to this scene of introspection, and Kairen realized that there was still more that the world could take away from him. The dim starlight let him see make out just enough detail to identify the buzzard hawk perched over his body, inspecting it slowly with a hungry gleam in its eye.


    Kairen rushed over, yelling and flailing his arms wildly to try and stop events from happening, and he had a moment of hope as the scavenger bird raised its head curiously to look around. Hoping that the bird could somehow perceive him Kairen began to add some invisible kicks into the mix, trying to convey the message that the monster was not welcome here. The buzzard hawk didn¡¯t seem to care at all as it looked around. Kairen desperately made noise and tried to will the bird away, only to stop as the sharp beak plunged downward before rising back up to gobble down its macabre prize.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    As Kairen slowly worked through his initial horror, he realized he was more detached from the situation than he ought to be. It was his body that the monster was feeding on, but the key words in that statement were ¡®was his body¡¯. He didn¡¯t seem to be using it anymore, and he wasn¡¯t feeling any pain or other effects from the bird¡¯s action. He had been shocked when he first saw it, but that sensation had quickly faded, and he couldn¡¯t muster up the innate outrage and horror he thought he should be feeling at the desecration of his corpse. It was simply nature taking its course, a course he was no longer part of. Kairen was now simply an observer, unable to be seen, heard or felt by the rest of the world. Unable to stop the carrion eater, and disinclined to watch anymore than he had to, Kairen turned away and returned to contemplating his new state of existence.


    Eventually the buzzard hawk left, having eaten its fill and Kairen returned to watching the sky as he thought things through. His current situation was better than slavery, better than the nothingness he had feared after death. It wasn¡¯t the afterlife he had desired, nor was it the life he had been looking forwards to, but it did have its upsides. Not needing to eat or drink was a good one, especially as Kairen didn¡¯t have any way to actually interact with food or water to consume them. The intangibility could be nice, he supposed. While it meant he wouldn¡¯t be able to get other people to help him, it also meant that he wasn¡¯t at risk of being hunted down by a monster. Once he made it back to a city he¡¯d be able to do all sorts of things with no one the wiser. From seeing what the priests actually kept in their holy repositories to unrestricted access to the cleaning houses Kairen was able to think of more than a few ways to spin this to his advantage.


    Furthermore, he was hardly the only ghost in the world. The idea was silly! Once he arrived at a city there would probably be a few others, maybe even dozens of other spirits who he could interact with and show him how things worked. And without a physical body to get sore or tired or need food or water, there wasn¡¯t any reason he couldn¡¯t just set off right now! Sure, it might take a lot longer to get anywhere without a Navigator in the lead, but Kairen had time to spare.


    Buoyed with the positive ideas, Kairen hopped to his feet. There was just enough light for him to make out the ground in front of him and he began to walk, picking the brightest star and making his way towards it. He made it about a hundred steps before he noticed that something was wrong. He wasn¡¯t moving. He tried harder, but no matter how fast he ran or how hard he pushed his new body refused to travel any further in the direction he wanted to go. Sure, he could head to the side or back easily enough, but Kairen already knew the truth.


    He was trapped here.

 Chapter 4

    Kairen had had enough shocks for a while. So when he realized he was trapped he simply pushed the information out of his mind. He would either deal with it later, or something would change and it wouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore. It could wait for another day. Now was when he should be relaxing and recovering. Setting down on the ground he began to look around himself in earnest.


    The night was more active than he had first imagined, although it made sense given the oppressive heat of the sun. As Kairen patiently observed his surroundings he saw more and more creatures coming out to go about the task of staying alive, from ants carrying sand away from their anthill to floatpuffs following the breeze, trailed by a small flock of flying bugs hoping to grab any seeds that might fall. There was larger wildlife too, if more scarce. Kairen watched as a small rodent cautiously made its way towards his body, flinching at every change in the wind or far off noise, but steadily growing closer. He watched amused as it took a small bite, before seeming to consider the sheer difference in size between itself and the relatively gigantic corpse. There was a comical moment where it tried to bite into an arm and drag it away, only to give up after struggling for a few seconds. Instead, the desert rat seemed to decide that if it couldn¡¯t bring this supply of food home, it would move its home to the food.


    Kairen hadn¡¯t ever really had the free time to watch animals go about their lives and he was amazed at the speed the rodent was able to burrow. It wasn¡¯t long before it was completely out of sight, after which it returned to the surface in irregular intervals, pushing pile after pile of sandy dirt to the surface.


    In the wider scale of things the desert rat might be irrelevant, but its antics and actions amused Kairen until dawn arrived.


    With dawn came another surprise, one that Kairen was unable to quantify as good or bad. A magical window appeared in front of him.


    Kairen had never experienced this before, but he had heard of it. Judgement stones could be found in some of the larger settlements, and were key elements of more than a few stories he had heard growing up. It was common for the hero to be tested by a Judgment stone, only to be rejected for being too weak, only to surprise everyone by saving the kingdom anyways.


    It wasn¡¯t quite like what he had expected though. Instead of a single box, there were three, and there were a lot more words than he thought a Judgement usually contained. On top of that, Kairen realized he had a slight problem. He couldn¡¯t read. He¡¯d picked up the absolute basics from hanging around town, enough to make out common words and prices, but his family needed him working more than they needed him studying something he wasn¡¯t going to use. To be fair to his parents, he didn¡¯t think anyone would have predicted that his current situation was a possible path for his life to take. It still left him facing three intimidating walls of text without any idea of what they said or what he was supposed to do with them.


    Kairen tried stepping backwards, hoping that would move him away from the screens and let him get back to what he had been doing, but the screens followed him. It certainly looked like they wanted him to do something, probably choose between them, but he wanted to figure out as much as he could before making that mysterious choice.


    He slowly read over the leftmost window. Most of it was gibberish to him, but he did recognize the word for monster. It showed up a couple of times, but what about the monsters Kairen didn¡¯t know. Were monsters born in oases? Kairen did his best to recognize any other words that might give him more context, only to startle backwards when the text shimmered and changed. It was a lot shorter now, and the words seemed to be simpler. Still mostly unrecognizable, but Kairen was pretty sure it had something to do with weak and strong monsters. It seemed whatever was behind these screens recognized his confusion and all three screens shimmered, before being replaced by moving images. It was like the illusions the traveling entertainer created, only far more clear and smooth. Kairen knew he was probably going to lose out on some nuance that had originally been present, but he could at least get some idea of what choice he was supposed to make.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The left window had all sorts of monsters wandering around, from sand elementals to scorpions, rattlesnakes to rocs. In the middle of the image a bubble of sorts formed and expanded outwards. When monsters were on a path to collide with the bubble they seemed to go around it, leaving the area inside clear of monsters. The roc flew through without seeming to notice the bubble and the sand elemental managed to drag itself through the barrier with some effort, but everything else stayed outside.


    The middle window probably had the simplest sequence. It displayed the area in front of him, complete with dunes, rocks and the small animals that made it their home. All of a sudden the ground in the center of the area began to darken before sinking downwards to be replaced by a small pool of clear water.


    The third image on the right started off the same, a picture of his location as it was now, but instead of a pool of water forming what changed was the number of creatures present. Hordes of rodents chased around swarms of locusts, as everything seemed to multiply.


    The middle image was the hint needed to clue Kairen in to what was happening. Somehow this location was turning into an Oasis, and he had some degree of control over its growth.


    An Oasis was not a small thing. While there were many areas of safety in and around the Shifting Sands, most were simple things. Solid rock underground, with perhaps an overhang or two to provide shade. On very rare occasions water might be present, or people might put the effort into digging a well. All such places still had to post a guard against monsters and keep an eye out for any storms that might threaten them. Really, the only consistent feature of the many settlement locations were the ability of Navigators to consistently travel to and from them. As such, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for some groups to be completely nomadic, taking advantage of the ability to travel away from storms and a constant stream of new places to harvest from in exchange for an inability to maintain constant interaction with other groups.


    Oases were different. Not only did they provide a steady source of water without need for priestesses or wells, but their innate magic allowed them to grow over time. This growth meant that an oasis could provide enough water to sustain entire cities, and most oases would develop secondary benefits as well. From reduced monster attacks to restful sleep for everyone in the city, the benefits were varied and random. Some cities claimed to be able to guide their growth, and Kairen wondered if every Oasis had a ghost secretly controlling things behind the scenes or if he was the exception and there was some other mechanism elsewhere.


    More than anything though, Kairen developed a sense of hope upon seeing the screen. He might be stuck in this place where he died, but while he couldn¡¯t travel elsewhere, an Oasis would bring people here. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but Kairen could afford to wait. The animal antics would keep him busy for now, and sooner or later a Pathfinder would stumble across him.


    Of the three choices available to him, Kairen decided to go with creating a spring. Less monsters or more animals were nice benefits, but a source of water was a true prize that would attract people far more quickly. With his mind made up, Kairen pressed his invisible hand against the floating image and everything changed.

 Chapter 5

    In a slow wave heading out from Kairen¡¯s situation the ground rippled. The sand didn¡¯t completely vanish, but a fair amount of it was replaced with rock and harder soil, materials capable of holding water. The change stopped after forming a rough large circle, at a guess the area that Kairen was confined to. He amused himself for a bit by walking around the perimeter and confirming it before the next change took place.


    For a while things were quiet, but slowly a deep rumbling could be heard, and lighter grains of sand started to dance as the ground under them trembled. All of a sudden, the ground in the middle of the area cracked open, and a stream of clear water burst forth. As it flowed the surrounding area began to sink under the weight, and soon a large pool of crystal-clear water had formed, any silt or debris that would normally be present having been supernaturally stripped away.


    For a minute, all Kairen could do was stare. His village had built a large cistern before he was born, and between that and the efforts of the local shaman there had always been enough water for the necessities. He could even remember watching as the semiannual rainstorms dropped their burden, solid sheets of water pouring from the sky. But nothing compared the tranquility and permanence of the pool in front of him. It wasn¡¯t guarded or buried deep underground to keep it from evaporating in the harsh sun. It looked ready to drink without needing any additional filtration and its sheer size seemed to invite the boy to come and play in it.


    Any hesitation Kairen might have had about spoiling the water was overridden by a single thought. This was his. He had made it, and no one else could complain about what he did with it.


    It didn''t take him long to break into a run straight for the pool of water and once he reached the edge he jumped in feet first. Even if he wasn¡¯t capable of acting on the world it seemed that whatever magic allowed him to stand on the ground also allowed him to experience the sensation of swimming. It meant that instead of standing on the surface, or sinking to the bottom and acting like the water wasn¡¯t there, Kairen was able to bob up and down, buoyed up by water that didn¡¯t even ripple or splash from his antics.


    For the first time since he had died, Kairen was truly able to forget about his condition. Swimming was such a strange sensation! A tiny part of his mind knew the water should be splashing about, but he simply closed his eyes, turning the world around him to darkness as he twirled and tumbled away.


    Kairen lost track of time, and only stopped because he was out of energy. Even if he didn¡¯t need to breathe, or have muscles to get sore, he still felt like he needed a break to catch his breath, and flopped on his back, bobbing up and down gently while he relaxed. It was a comfortable position to be in, far cozier than sleeping on the ground, and Kairen was tempted to simply fall asleep where he was. He had spent most of the night awake, and despite the bright sun telling him that a new day had arrived he soon found himself drifting off.


    The screech of an animal jolted him awake, and it took him a bit of foundering to orient himself, having never woken up in the water before. What he saw amazed him. It was one thing to know how valuable water was to people. It was another to see what it meant to the animal kingdom.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Kairen knew that water had a scent. His village always knew when to start tying things down in preparation of a storm when the dogs started barking and signalling their handlers, able to catch the scent of rain carried ahead on the breeze far before the clouds became visible in the sky. He had heard tales of animals with even stranger senses which allowed them to survive in desert conditions, all of which would help them find their way to a source of life-giving water such as he had created.


    Before Kairen had gone to sleep the largest animal in the area had been the desert rat. Now there was a veritable zoo. Camels and Antelope towered over smaller rabbits and lizards, and a few desert foxes cautiously approached the pool, unwilling to initiate violence while outnumbered in this new environment. A few mobile plants had also made their way here and had put down roots. Vine snakes had formed a small thicket in the northern shallows, shifting to a passive form to regain energy, while a troop of knightmoss covered creatures were partially hidden just within sight range of the oasis. Kairen frowned at that. Hopefully, whatever magic that was keeping the water clear despite the animals churning it up would also prevent the knightmoss from getting a foothold. While he wasn¡¯t personally at risk if the knightmoss managed to take over his pond it would scare away the other animals and humans until a specialist group could be put together. Fortunately, most animals recognized the danger that the mind controlling plant posed and would do what they could to stomp it out.


    Kairen made his way to shore, marvelling at his ability to get close to the various animals without scaring them away. Later he would definitely try and spend as much time as he could learning about each species present but for now he wanted to get closer to the knightmoss. It turned out that the hiding spot the knightmoss had chosen was close to the anthill Kairen had observed earlier. The presence of water had thrown the ants into a building frenzy, and Kairen watched as a steady stream of workers made their way to the partially buried troop, biting off pieces of moss and hauling them back to the hive to feed the rest of the colony. Each stolen piece was too small to envelope and hijack the ant carrying it, and the diminished intelligence of the knightmoss¡¯ mounts was almost completely focused on observing the oasis and the far greater potential threats present.


    Relieved, Kairen watched the war of attrition for a little longer. There was too much traffic by his oasis for the troop to try anything, and by the time things might settle down again the ants would have neutralized the threat the troop posed. Getting back onto his feet, he began wandering around, enjoying the ability to treat the oasis as his own personal zoo.


    Even if they weren¡¯t humans, even if they weren¡¯t able to see and interact with Kairen, the sheer life and energy that surrounded Kairen was a balm he hadn¡¯t known he needed. His time under the slavers had been isolating, not for a lack of people, but for the enforced lack of opportunity to interact with them. The interaction he was experiencing now might be one-sided, but simply watching the animals react and enjoy the water he had provided brought a small smile to his lips. He chuckled as he watched the antics of a young antelope, young enough to probably have lived off of milk and then moisture gained from eating plants. Standing water was a complete mystery to it and watching as it interacted with the mysterious substance greatly lightened the mood. Every contact with the cool liquid sent the young animal scrambling back in terror, and Kairen might have felt sorry for the thing were it not for the calming presence of its nearby mother. After a few moments of drama, it would be reassured by the lack of reaction from its parent, calm down, inch forward and then repeat the cycle over again.

 Chapter 6

    As much as Kairen hated being trapped, it was strangely freeing in some aspects. Instead of worrying about making his way out of the Shifting Sands, or trying to make contact with a wandering caravan, he could just relax. A source of water was something that Pathfinders could track down, and as such there was little Kairen could do except wait. He had no obligation to spend his time trying to make contact, he had already done everything he could and had the freedom to just sit back and watch the antics of the various animals.


    The day passed by quickly, and soon the various animals had settled down for the night. Some had claimed areas around the oasis as their own, either burrowing underground or circling up with herd members to guard each other, but most had set off once they had drunk their fill. Various crepuscular species had begun to arrive, to spend their active time period at the oasis, and Kairen knew that once the nocturnal animals woke up it wouldn¡¯t be long before they too started to make their way to drink their fill. The continued activity discouraged most of the animals from sleeping in the area, and they reluctantly left to settle down somewhere else for the night. Kairen stayed up a little bit after dark to see if he could watch the new arrivals, but between the darkness and the sheer number of things moving it was hard to make out anything but vague outlines. He figured his eyes would adjust if he stayed awake long enough, much like they had the previous night, but he was tired and the lure of a comfortable resting spot on the water called to him.


    When he woke up in the morning, Kairen was once more greeted by the three screens. All three were displaying pictures from the start, and the only difference that he could spot was that the middle image had changed from a new oasis forming to his current one expanding. It had also taken on a greyed out hue compared to the other two images, and attempting to choose it had no effect. Upon closer inspection it looked like there might be smaller windows above and behind the water choice, but they were so transparent as to be little more than a haze, and Kairen wasn¡¯t sure they weren¡¯t just his mind making things up. Giving it up for the moment, Kairen turned his attention to the remaining two options, and ended up choosing the one that increased the number of animals. He still didn¡¯t have any reason to worry about being attacked by monsters, and having more creatures present seemed like a good way to make things more interesting. The window vanished, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any obvious change. The window had been pretty clear about what it would affect though, and Kairen eventually shrugged and mentally marked it down as a longer term effect.


    Once again the oasis proved to be a major point of attraction for the local wildlife, and Kairen spent the morning wandering from one species to the next, looking for all the unusual features that let each one survive in this harsh climate. When he checked on the knightmoss he noticed that the troop was missing, the only thing left was the disturbed dirt speckled with blood that suggested a scuffle of some sort. A quick check reassured Kairen that the moss hadn¡¯t managed to gain a foothold in his pool and he gave a little nod of thanks to whatever predator had removed the threat. Around lunchtime Kairen started getting the mental impression that he should eat, even though he wasn¡¯t feeling physically hungry and hadn¡¯t been able to interact with any material objects yet. He categorized it as him still adjusting to his new incorporeal form and tried to ignore it, but after an hour of feeling the nagging sensation, he decided to try something stupid. There wasn¡¯t anything in the area that Kairen really wanted to eat, preferring his meat cooked or his greens to be something other than grass. Instead Kairen knelt down on the edge of the oasis, before closing his eyes and leaning towards the surface of the water. He was hoping that if he could feel the water well enough to simulate swimming, that trying to drink it would make him feel like he had put something into his stomach. His experiment was an overwhelming success as Kairen found himself not only feeling like he was swallowing down liquid, but like he was actually tasting it as well.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Most water he was used to either had a slightly gritty taste even after being filtered, or it had an acrid tang that was the residual magic used in its creation. This water had neither of those flavors, and was the perfect temperature as well. Its connection to either a source of magic or the aquifer far below the desert kept it delightfully cool. For almost a minute Kairen kept taking in gulps of water. After about thirty seconds he opened his eyes, but it seemed that despite the sensation he wasn¡¯t actually consuming water. Kairen didn¡¯t know what would happen if he was. Would there simply be a floating bubble of water in the air? He shook the irrelevant thought aside and continued until he had his fill.


    The return of one of his missing senses buoyed Kairen¡¯s mood significantly and soon he returned to his lazy position on the water watching the animals come and go while swirling a mouthful of ghostly water around to simply enjoy the sensation.


    The animals were already getting used to the oasis, and by midafternoon more than a few tussles had broken out as different species began to assert their claim. The camels were the worst offenders, kicking at any other creature that tried to approach the area that they had claimed as theirs. The first kill belonged to a pair of hawks though, who dove in tandem on a desert hare. The first forced it to dodge right into the claws of its partner and soon after the two flew off into the air with their meal before ground bound scavengers could take advantage. The event seemed to signal the change to the other species and soon most of the prey animals had made themselves scarce as they left for safer areas and the predator species followed after. A new equilibrium was reached where the remaining animals had enough space and caution to approach the pool, while the jackal and lizards waited patiently for the moment of relaxation where they could close the distance faster than expected. Kairen soon made a game of gambling on the outcome of various battles of wits, even as he was surprised at how many times the predator species would simply pass up on a reasonably good chance to hunt. Of course, the cost of not hunting was minimal, while every failed chase was a large amount of energy that would need to be recouped.


    The strangest event of the day happened well into the evening just as shadows from the nearby dunes began to touch the oasis. A trio of sandy balls rolled up through the desert and Kairen observed them in fascination. He had never heard of a species like this and it didn¡¯t take long to find out why.


    The trio approached the edge of the pool and began to drink, and as they did so they changed. It seemed the oasis water retained a measure of the purification magic that kept the pool clean and that magic slowly dissolved the sandy camouflage covering the water elementals, revealing them as the watery monsters that they were.


    Monster was a good description, as an irritated camel was about to find out. The water elementals were just to the right of the area the camels were resting in, and with its legs tucked beneath it the camel chose instead to deliver a bite to the much smaller creature intruding on its territory.


    Instead of hurting the elemental, or even simply being ineffective the attack backfired. The water elemental surged forwards in an instant, surrounding the head of the camel completely as it began to drown it. The poor beast went wild, scrambling to its feet and flailing its head wildly as it tried to free itself, but every action was ineffective. Its distress drove the rest of the small herd into a panic as well, and even as an observer Kairen barely noticed the moment when the other two elementals also grabbed onto their prey. Five minutes later it was all over. The unnatural deaths had cleared the area of all wildlife, and the water elementals had taken up positions on the necks of the camels slowly siphoning out the lifeblood in a steady stream of red. Every now and again they would stop to split off a smaller red orb the size of a fist, which would make its way to the edge of the water to grow and clean itself. By the time the elementals were done with the desiccated corpses there were nearly thirty of the monsters. A quick demonstration by the elders of rolling in the sand to camouflage themselves, and the pack wandered away, leaving a disturbed ghost behind.


    Picking up the ability to deter monsters was definitely a priority for Kairen now.

 Chapter 7

    Even if monsters were able to enter the Oasis and dominate the wildlife present with their superior capabilities, they were still rare existences. It took an hour after the water elementals had left before creatures began to venture forth once more, but death was simply part of life in the harsh desert environment. The dead camels represented days worth of food for smaller scavengers and they went at it with a will, gorging themselves on meat until they could barely walk before stumbling away to digest their feast. Soon only the bones and offal were left as a marker to what had occurred, and Kairen figured that even they would vanish beneath the quickly growing carpet of plant life that had taken root.


    Even if he personally didn¡¯t have anything to fear from Monsters, Kairen still found himself unable to sleep that night. The Oasis was his domain and it had been violated today. While a part of his mind argued that what they had done to the camels was no worse than the killing that the hawks or foxes had done, his heart wasn¡¯t in it. At a spiritual level something wrong had occurred, even if he was unable to pin down why he felt that way. Perhaps it was his intuition that the elementals had taken more than they ought to from the camels. More than blood and water were needed to create new life and something that was part of the camels had been perverted into the creation of twenty-seven new monsters. Regardless of the cause, Kairen was unsettled and spent the night watching for any other intruders. Even if he could not act as a protector, he could still perform the role of a witness and give meaning to otherwise senseless violence by letting it shape his future actions and growth.


    Dawn arrived far too slowly for Kairen¡¯s state of mind, and with it the anticipated screens once more appeared. The middle and right windows were greyed out as Kairen had expected, but the left option, the creation of a ward against monsters, was also unable to be selected. It had taken on a greyish hue as well, even if it was a shade far closer to blue than either of the other choices. Unable to make a selection, Kairen helplessly sat down to wait. It was a slow process, but after an hour of waiting and watching his surroundings from his peripheral vision Kairen came to the conclusion that the left window was slowly turning blue. He assumed that once it was fully blue, he would be able to select it and spend something on creating the barrier that it promised. Alternatively, he could hold off on selecting it and wait. If he could see one option changing color then it made sense that the others were as well, even if it was taking a lot more time. Two or three details made Kairen hesitant to test it out quite yet. The first was that he didn¡¯t know how long it would take before he could select an upgrade to the spring or the wildlife. If it was only a couple of days it was one thing, but it might be months or even years. Kairen didn¡¯t have any experience with Oases growing, but he figured he would have heard if it was something that happened quickly and easily. Instead, the major cities had annual festivals dedicated to their Oases. If it took a month or more, then taking a day to get a defensive barrier wouldn¡¯t delay it all that much.


    The second major reason Kairen didn¡¯t want to wait was the presence of monsters. Both previous upgrades had been able to be selected immediately at dawn, and he had had the ability to choose the barrier option at those times as well. It wasn¡¯t hard to tie his inability to do so this morning to the attack of the water elementals. The ill-seated unease he felt might be because they took something from him besides his bountiful water. It also provided a better reason for the presence of the barrier. You didn¡¯t need defenses against something that couldn¡¯t hurt you, so having monsters in his Oasis was probably bad for him in some manner or other. Keeping monsters out would prevent him from losing any more of whatever it was the elementals took and might end up getting him those upgrades faster once that was taken into account.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The final reason for taking the barrier as soon as it was available was somewhat petty, but Kairen was getting tired of having the screens blocking his vision. He wanted them gone and wasn¡¯t able to select an option to make them vanish like he had previously. They weren¡¯t tied to a location like the Judgement stones, so he wasn¡¯t able to simply walk away from them. In irritation he swiped his hand through the screen, only to blink when they dispersed.


    He panicked a little at that, not wanting to wait till the next dawn to get his barrier when a monster could attack at any moment and set him back further. Random arm movements didn¡¯t seem to do anything, and just made Kairen feel silly and glad that no one else could see him. He had a feeling that he looked stupid enough that even the animals present would judge him if they could. Speaking took a lot longer to test, and Kairen unsuccessfully exhausted all the magical words he could remember with no success to show for it.


    ¡°What does it take to get you to appear?¡± He grumbled in frustration, before staring. ¡°That¡¯s it? All I had to do was ask?!¡±


    Kairen desperately wanted to hit something and was irked that his incorporeality prevented him from properly venting his frustration. Fortunately, it seemed that the delay in getting the window back had allowed him to accumulate enough stuff to choose the monster barrier, and Kairen selected the upgrade with a closed fist, enjoying the momentary feedback as the window shattered and vanished.


    A semisolid dome immediately formed around the Oasis, and Kairen knew instinctively that on some level it was on the same plane of existence as he was. The animals seemed to be unable to notice it as they freely entered and exited, but Kairen knew and confirmed that he would find it solid to the touch. Before he had been tethered to this spot, but now he was truly walled in.


    More confirmation of the barrier¡¯s effectiveness was given when a spot of sand outside the barrier began to quiver, before a buried water elemental emerged from its hiding spot. Not needing to breathe or truly worry about being crushed it had hidden underground during the day to avoid the sun¡¯s dry rays of heat and would likely have revisited the oasis once dusk arrived to once again feed and spawn. Its future plans were obviously foiled by the barrier, which not only prevented it from entering, but actively forced it away, driving it out into the Sands where it would slowly evaporate. It might have been vindictive, but Kairen felt a smile creep onto his face as he imagined the water elemental slowly shrinking down to nothingness.

 Chapter 8: Ade

    Scouting by himself was a guilty pleasure for Ade. He absolutely loved the freedom it offered; the ability to travel anywhere and find anything waiting over the next dune. He enjoyed being able to move as quickly as he wanted, loping up and down the dunes without having to tether himself to the mothers and elders of the tribe, without having to worry about only taking paths that a hundred people with different physical capabilities could follow. He disliked the time limit he was given, the ever constant reminder that he would have to turn back sooner than he wanted. He hated the reason he was sent out scouting, that every task had the primary purpose of simply training his Pathfinding ability. All in preparation for the day that he would need to guide the tribe, responsible for safely seeing everyone from one resting spot to the next. He hated his inability to say no, when doing so would mean indirectly killing people he had grown up with even as he felt like a sacrificial lamb, his future tossed aside for the greater good.


    Sure, he wasn¡¯t the only young adult being trained. His tribe had been blessed with four people in his generation capable of navigating the Shifting Sands, capable of drawing on instinctual knowledge to turn left, right, and backwards in such a way that a different resting point would appear than the one they set out from. Two Navigators who could find their way back to places they knew, and two Pathfinders who could follow their heart to find their heart¡¯s desire. Already the elders were looking forward to the benefits of visiting the same settlements multiple times; the upsides of having long term trading partners and being able to maintain contact with those who left the tribe for one reason or another. There were nice benefits to having Navigators in a tribe, but it was the Pathfinders who truly determined if the fortunes of a tribe rose or fell.


    Pathfinders made sure that the tribe was always coming across resources to harvest, from salt flats to mine to water sources that hadn¡¯t been drained or dirtied beyond usability by a horde of people all going about their lives. From places willing to buy their raw materials or various crafts, to places with medicine needed for a sick child they made sure that every stop had what was needed to reach the next one. Strong Pathfinder, strong tribe was a common saying among those who lived that nomadic lifestyle.


    The corollary was that a weak Pathfinder made for a weak tribe was no less true. If a poor Pathfinder tried to guide a group of people beyond his capabilities he would struggle to avoid being pulled deeper and deeper into the Sands. There the far harsher hazards and stronger monsters would solve the problem for the poor navigator. Either everyone would vanish, never to be heard from again, or a much diminished party would struggle to the nearest town, their numbers reduced to the level that the Pathfinder could lead to safety. The best strategy for a rich or powerful tribe with a new Pathfinder was to put as many resources as they could spare into training them, costing them their present wealth or strength in the hopes of preserving their future.


    All of which went to say that while Ade understood the importance of his training, he couldn¡¯t help but resent it. His grandfather was the current Pathfinder, and there was an unspoken expectation that Ade would be the one to eventually take his place. The others with talent were given the expected training as well, but Ade felt like the hopes for the future were placed on his shoulders alone. Even if his willingness to head out on scouting trips like this one were seen as more evidence of his suitability, he still took every chance he could get to escape from that pressure, to have some time where his reality could be simplified down to himself and his goal, with no thought given towards the needs of tomorrow.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Right now that goal was finding a source of water. A group of small water elementals had managed to sneak onto the cart where they stored their barrels of water and had absorbed a good amount of it before they were noticed and the alarm was raised. Fortunately the monsters weren¡¯t much of a threat. Their primary method of attack was suffocation, something deadly to wild animals, less so against a species with hands. The guards had enough experience to keep their calm and put their hands to use, keeping their airways clear while slowly splashing off small bits until the elementals lost cohesion. Once the monsters were defeated the only casualties were half their water supply and a dog that had run away in a panic instead of remaining where its owner could help save it. The dog would be missed, but the loss of water was the real tragedy.


    They had enough water for their immediate needs, but Ade¡¯s grandfather had immediately altered course to restock their water before any other accident could put them in a truly dire situation. The two Navigators were put to work to retrace their steps back to the last well they had visited. Ade and Tor were sent out to find a new source of water nearby. There wasn¡¯t much hope of them succeeding. Water sources were rare, and having the additional constraints of finding it quickly and having it be nearby made it even less likely that they would find anything. Ade wasn¡¯t complaining. It was still time spent exploring the Shifting Sands by himself.


    The first sign that Ade noticed was the unusual amount of animals that were active. He had grown up in the Sands, and knew just how tenacious and creative nature could be, but most species weren¡¯t active until dusk or night to avoid the heat of the sun. Ade peered closely as a small lizard skittered past. He was sure that it usually came out after the sun was down, but here it was for some reason.


    The second sign was the smell. Ade didn¡¯t have a Talent to enhance his nose, or a trained dog capable of letting him know the information the wind carried, but smelling that something about the wind was different was easy enough. Eager to see what lay ahead, Ade quickened his pace.


    It was green. The sheer expanse of wild growth was a pleasant surprise. Ade was far more comfortable seeing plants growing in carefully kept and watered gardens, or in the form of potted herbs and vegetables that the medicine woman tended to. This though was nothing more than an expanse of grass, lush and green from what would usually be an extravagant expenditure of water. It wasn¡¯t the spiky, almost brown hardy weeds that struggled to survive in dips and cracks, but was an abundant feast for any grazing animal. And there were animals aplenty. Camels and antelope and smaller beasts that combined would feed the tribe for months. But the real treasure lay in the middle of them, quiet and unmoving.


    Water. A clear pool that dwarfed the size of any natural source Ade had ever seen. More water than villages could pull out of their well, more water than his tribe used in a year. Against all odds he had done it. He had found a new source of water for the tribe. He had found an Oasis.

 Chapter 9: Ade

    Caution was the name of the game. Ade had it drilled into his head from an early age that rushing things was the easiest way for them to go wrong. From anchoring a tent against a sandstorm to navigating the Sands his life was filled with duties where messing up would get people killed. His tribe needed water, but they weren¡¯t so desperate for it that he would blindly rush into this rare occurrence.


    Taking a deep breath, Ade settled down into a crouch, and did his best to remember what he could of Oases. While odds were good that this was just a regular oasis, nothing more than a watering hole for the local animals, there was always a chance that it was something more. A regular oasis might have dangerous animals living there to contend with, but magic allowed for far more creative threats. Until Ade could get someone magically attuned to confirm otherwise, he would have to act as though this place was magical, and that every bit of that magic was focused on killing him.


    His first concern was entry and exit. Getting trapped because he didn¡¯t see the warning signs would be terrible. The fact that animals could come and go was good, but Ade¡¯s first, second, and third plans were all focused on escape if things went wrong. From addictive smells to the idea that everything he saw in front of him was simply an illusion over a far more dangerous location, Ade did his best to temper his expectations with a healthy, excessive, dose of pessimism. The only reason a place like this wouldn¡¯t be claimed is if it was new or if there was something wrong with it.


    The animals present were a slight concern for Ade, but only due to their numbers. He didn''t spot any large predators, and watering holes tended to be something of a neutral ground for animals. Water was a resource that even the most timid of prey animals would fight for. Combined with multiple predators more than willing to attack a distracted competitor and Ade was pretty confident in avoiding any confrontation. If pressed he had a sling and a knife, and enough skill with both to feel confident in keeping himself alive.


    The water was the final threat that Ade was worried about. As pleasant as it looked, there were too many enchanted liquids and subtle poisons possible for him to be comfortable drinking any of it without it being thoroughly checked over by a healer. Taking out his travelling canteen, he drank it down slowly, careful not to spill any of it, before closing the now empty container. He¡¯d fill it up from the pool and take it back with him to let someone smarter figure out if it was drinkable or not.


    Satisfied he was prepared for any unexpected surprises or threats as he could be, Ade began to slowly descend down the sand dune towards the oasis. He felt a soft tingle pass over his skin as he stepped onto the fertile ground. As far as he was concerned, this was a genuine Oasis. He¡¯d let the elders handle the consequences, although he had a sinking suspicion that this would confirm his status as the next in line as tribe Pathfinder. He perked up. Of course, it was possible that the tribe would settle down here if there weren¡¯t any problems. Just because they were used to a nomadic lifestyle didn¡¯t mean they were required to always do so, and an Oasis like this was enough of a treasure to convince most people.


    As he¡¯d hoped, the animals more or less ignored him. A few of the younger ones were curious about his presence and tried to approach, but were herded away by their mothers. Ade was the second largest being there after the camels, and his bipedal structure was unique. He didn¡¯t try to do anything, but just kept walking slowly to the edge of the water.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    It was unnaturally clear, and Ade wanted to cup his hands and drink his fill, or even strip down and go splashing in. He resisted the urge, and instead lowered his canteen by its carrying strap, letting it slowly fill while avoiding contact with the water. Putting the cap on and tying it shut was the matter of seconds for his experienced hands and with his job done for the moment he reversed course and began to slowly leave. A few of the jackals perked up at that but turning around and walking backwards seemed to spook them enough to keep them from advancing on him. He kept eye contact until he felt the ground under him switch from hard soil to soft sand, at which point he turned to face forwards and began to travel.


    While exploring Ade had kept himself in the shallow parts of the Shifting Sands. Without a specific destination in mind and without the metaphysical weight of a group to compensate for it had made sense to take the safer routes. Now Ade was interested in speed. As he walked forwards he began to listen to the sixth sense that told him which direction to travel. It wasn¡¯t something he had a lot of practice with, but Ade did his best to act opposite to his intuition. Right now he wasn¡¯t interested in finding a way out of the Sands, but a way deeper in. The wild grew stronger as Ade travelled forwards, stepping onto terrain that was more and more warped by the supernatural constant. Distance was always a hard thing to measure when there was no constant geography, but everyone agreed that the deeper you went, the faster a trip could be completed. You just had to be capable of handling the increased dangers present and have a navigator capable of bringing you out again.


    Travelling by himself gave Ade confidence that he wouldn¡¯t get trapped too deep, but he readily admitted that the increased dangers he could face were always a gamble. Travelling by himself meant he wasn¡¯t as likely to attract a roaming monster, but it also meant his capability of fighting one was also diminished, and strange terrain like flowing rivers of sand or dust devils didn¡¯t care about group sizes. Still, as long as he stayed aware of his surroundings, he should be able to turn back if he did spot trouble ahead. It would mean a longer trip overall, but Ade¡¯s tribe wouldn¡¯t die if he were delayed getting back. In the end, the chances of getting back quicker and giving his tribe as much time as possible to decide what to do with the Oasis was worth the potential delay.


    His progress slowed as the terrain got steadily worse. Uneven rocks required careful footing, while sand dunes got larger and more unstable. Ade accidentally triggered a small wave of sand that tipped him over and he rode it down to the bottom, grateful that he hadn¡¯t accidentally buried himself, and already wincing at the reaming Alba the seamstress was going to give him. He decided he¡¯d gone deep enough and took a moment to center himself. Finding the way back home was easy, and Ade rapidly made his way up and out, like a tent caught by a storm. The close call with the sand avalanche kept him cautious and wary of dangers until he finally saw a caravan of camels as he crested the next dune.


    It seemed the scouts caught sight of him as well, and by the time he rejoined the camp a welcoming party had been put together. Everyone relaxed a bit when they recognized him, and Ade raised a hand to forestall the customary greetings.


    ¡°Time is of the essence. I believe I have found an unclaimed Oasis, with plenty of water and animals.¡± He tossed his canteen to the healer who was listening in. ¡°I took a sample for you to test, as I know when I have exceeded the limits of my skills or abilities.¡± There was a moment''s pause that stretched out as everyone processed what he said, which quickly turned into excited pandemonium. Ade sighed. Just what he was afraid of.

 Chapter 10: Ade

    Ade gave a quick bow before trying to shuffle off. He didn¡¯t want to make a big deal of his accomplishment, but it seemed Elder Gomer had his own thoughts in mind. Raising his hand for attention, he quickly silenced the small group that had gathered. ¡°Quiet. I do not want to hear any of you talking about this until we have had a chance to go over the evidence closely. Time is of the essence, but we have enough time to do it right. Elders, if you will join me over there? Healer Elan, If you could join us?¡± Any chance of people arguing was cut off as Gomer turned his back on the rest of the audience and began to walk towards the point he had designated.


    Ade sighed. As much as he just wanted to fade into the background and let others handle things, he knew that wasn¡¯t possible. The barest information he had shared was enough to get people moving, but he was sure the elders would want a more detailed report and the ability to ask him questions as they figured out the best course for their tribe. Not burdened by age or distracted by a flask, Ade was the first to arrive at the meeting point. A quick detour allowed him to intercept a foresightful teenager who was approaching with a windblock. A large sheet of canvas stretched out like a sail, Ade positioned it to block out as much wind-carried sand as he could, and then angled it forwards to provide a small amount of protection from the sun. By the time he had it anchored in position everyone else had arrived and the discussion began in earnest.


    Healer Elan was the first to speak. "The water you brought back does have a touch of magic in it, but nothing harmful. I¡¯m not a wizard to know what effect it does have though. Anything else you can tell us that might narrow it down?¡±


    ¡°There were a lot of animals drinking by wading in the water, but it wasn¡¯t muddy or disturbed at all. The water was far clearer than it should have been just sitting out in the open where sand could blow into it at any moment.¡±


    The old healer thought for a moment. ¡°Probably a cleansing or purification effect of some sort. Doesn¡¯t feel like any spell I¡¯ve seen a shaman or water mage cast, but then again you didn¡¯t see any people there to do the casting.¡±


    Elder Shan spoke up. ¡°You¡¯re positive you didn¡¯t see anyone else there? No one who might take offense to us showing up? Think carefully. This is the sort of treasure that some would kill for.¡° His eyes made their way towards where the rest of the tribe had started to gather, overly innocent looks on their faces even as the few details they knew were slowly shared around.


    Ade didn¡¯t answer right away. He did his best to go over what he had seen, what it implied. ¡°No one else was there when I was, and I don¡¯t think anyone was there before me. There weren¡¯t any signs of people setting up camp, and the animals were curious about me. I was an unknown to them, not a threat. I think if other people had started to settle in they would have killed a few animals for food, and it would have changed the beasts¡¯ response to future humans. I wish I could give you a solid yes or no answer.¡± Helpless he shrugged his shoulders.


    ¡°So someone could have scouted it like you did before going to get a larger party, or someone could have arrived after you left. Still, if we show up any time in the next couple of days they can hardly have built enough defenses to firmly claim it as theirs. We would at least be able to negotiate for refilling our water supplies if that was the case. Not a terrible outcome all things considered.¡± Elder Mu took on the role of stormseer, doing his best to guess at the worst outcome, even if he was somewhat distracted by his own excitement.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Of course, there aren¡¯t many people who would be in a position to stumble over such a place. Adventures are either travelling deeper to hunt down monsters, or heading back to their city to claim bounties; traders almost always travel from one city to another, with a rare few having the ability and inclination to seek out new locations to trade and most explorers secure a steady source of water early on and search for other treasures afterwards. It could be that another tribe might stumble across this oasis, but I don¡¯t see any difficulty in joining forces if that happens. Any opposition to changing course immediately?¡±


    ¡°Just a small one.¡± Ade¡¯s grandfather rumbled, before turning his full focus towards Ade. ¡°Child, do you think you can guide the tribe there? I will do what I can to help you, but the heaviest load will still fall on your shoulders. You have come far in your training, but this is still a hard task to accomplish. If needed, you can guide me there and back and I can guide the tribe.¡±


    ¡°I can do it.¡± Ade responded almost immediately. Making an extra trip to the oasis and back would take far too long. His grandfather was not a young man, and while he was able to maintain the slow pace that the migratory caravan as a whole used, Ade didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to go much faster, even if he was able to ride a camel. On top of that Ade didn¡¯t feel comfortable taking the deeper route with someone that old and vulnerable, and even more time would be required. And while they were gone the rest of the tribe would be stuck in one location, steadily working through their water supplies, without anyone truly capable of leading them to safety if something went wrong.


    A note of concern appeared in Grandfather¡¯s eyes, but he didn¡¯t refute Ade¡¯s claim. ¡°Right then. We have a course and the beginnings of a plan. I¡¯ll take Ade to the front and get him settled in while you lot figure out what else needs to be done and who should be doing it.¡± With a smile he turned and began guiding Ade away with a weathered hand. ¡°Probably should figure out what to tell the rest of the tribe while you¡¯re at it.¡±


    It seemed the gathered crowd took their leaving as a sign that the meeting was over, and swarmed towards the gathered elders. More than a few changed paths to try and intercept the pair of Pathfinders, but with a certainty of purpose Ade¡¯s grandfather ignored them and kept moving. They got the message easily enough and turned their attention towards getting what information they could out of their leaders.


    Soon Ade reached the front of the caravan, where the two Navigators were waiting and holding position. Amy and Kane gave him nods of greeting which he returned, and then the pair turned their attention to his grandfather.


    ¡°Ade found an Oasis; He¡¯ll be leading us there while we do what we can to support him.¡± A set of incredulous looks made Ade squirm a little, but his grandfather continued before they could begin to question him. ¡°Questions can wait for later, right now our task is to get everyone moving.¡±


    Kane grabbed the horn hanging by his side and let out a lingering note. With practiced ease the tribe fell back into position, picking up packs and goading animals to walk as the tribe began to move. It had only been a few minutes but already Ade could feel an excited energy in the air as everyone figured out what was happening. It might take them a couple days of travel, but they were on their way to the most wondrous place in a desert. An Oasis was waiting for them.

 Chapter 11: Kairen

    At the moment Kairen was incredibly happy that no one could see him because he must look absolutely ridiculous. Dancing was not something he had a lot of practice with, and without any music to coordinate his actions it probably looked like little more than uncoordinated flailing. The movements still helped to convey the absolute glee that he was feeling. A person! Explorers were rare in the sands, but water was a resource worth looking for. Even then, Kairen had figured it would take weeks or months before anyone stumbled over his location. Instead it was only a couple of days and a Pathfinder had found him, refilled his canteen, and went on his way!


    Kairen was a little disappointed that the pathfinder hadn¡¯t stuck around, but it was a small complaint all things considered. Him leaving safely was a good thing from a larger point of view. A dark part of Kairen¡¯s mind pointed out that the jackals or some other animals could have potentially taken down the Pathfinder if they got lucky. Such a situation might have given Kairen another companion he could talk to, but it also meant no one else would be showing up until they too stumbled over this Oasis on their own. Instead, the pathfinder had left safely, and soon other people would know he existed and could make their way here. This way, Kairen just had to wait and all sorts of people would start making their way here.


    Of course, having something to anticipate made waiting much harder than it had been. While part of Kairen was happy doing nothing except watching the animals and their antics to pass the time, another part of him wanted something more to do. It was the part of his personality that wanted to go on an adventure, the part that hadn¡¯t been satisfied with simply learning from his father and eventually joining him working as a miner. He wanted more out of life than that.


    Even if Kairen was now trapped in this one spot, unable to travel the world, he did have something mysterious and new to explore. From its ability to change forms to ensure he could understand it to its ability to change the world around him, there was something special about the windows that kept appearing in front of him. Sure, they were likely related to the Judgements that people could purchase for themselves, but those were far more passive experiences. Step on a prepared platform and get a summary of your capabilities expressed in a standardized form. The form that Kairen kept interacting with was anything but standardized and he wondered just how different it actually was. For one, he never felt the feeling of judgement that was so closely tied with the devices, the feeling of them weighing one¡¯s soul. Instead, the screens just appeared, and if they didn¡¯t block his vision Kairen was sure he would be able to easily ignore them and go about his life. For another, it didn¡¯t seem like there was any requirement to activate it. No need to cast a spell or consume reagents, just a simple phrase.


    Since he hadn¡¯t been hurt by the screens yet, Kairen decided to move forward with testing them.


    ¡°Screen, appear!¡± he yelled, and it was so.


    All three options were greyed out and the animation of the monster option had changed, now showing that the next upgrade would repel monsters it hadn¡¯t been able to previously. Kairen made a note of it but moved on. He wanted to test the limits of the window, not just learn things step by step as they were given to him. While he was currently limited to pressing and talking to the screen, he still had some ideas as to how he could learn more.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Can you show me what other things you can do?¡± He asked. The window had been remarkably responsive to his needs, changing what was written and appearing and vanishing on command. It would be nice if it could simply respond to any request he had for it. Unfortunately, it seemed like his question was either invalid or too broad to get a response. Hoping it was the latter, Kairen narrowed down his next question.


    ¡°Can you show me what it costs me to get any of these things?¡± As vague as his wording was, it was descriptive enough, and after a moment the window shimmered and changed. It still showed the three boxes with moving pictures, but underneath each one was a long thin horizontal box that was partially filled going from left to right. At the very bottom of the window a much larger copy of the bar appeared, surrounded by text and a few numbers. Despite glaring at the text, it refused to change into something that Kairen could make sense of.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand these words.¡± Kairen tried to force the screen to provide an explanation, but instead the words simply vanished leaving him with only the boxes and numbers to try and figure out. The numbers were 6 and 200 and without additional context Kairen moved his attention elsewhere. Right away the box made a bit more sense. It was almost empty, with almost nothing filled except for a small sliver on the left edge. As Kairen watched, that sliver of color slowly grew and at the same time the 6 was replaced with a 7. Combined with his recent history, Kairen felt he had a good idea of what was happening. The sliver growing over time was likely a way of marking how much of the mysterious something he had to spend, with the numbers providing a more mathematical representation. The larger filled boxes were the costs needed for the next upgrade and looked to be several times more than the first level of abilities had cost.


    That worried Kairen a bit. Getting daily upgrades was nice, as the constant changes helped keep things from being too boring. Now he would need to wait several days to purchase an upgrade, with little else to do with his time but wait and watch. Of course, once he purchased the second level for all three categories, he would have another problem on his hands. If the costs for a theoretical third purchase grew even more, he wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it. There was some hope of growing his storage amount since the screen did show that second number, but even if some fortune did play out in his favor, he would still be confined in the same cycle of waiting between each purchase in longer and longer intervals.


    Kairen thought he had seen something else shown on the screens at one point, even if it had been so faint as to seem an illusion. He looked at the screen as it was. He¡¯d learned what he could about the cost of upgrades, so he might as well spend his time exploring some other avenues of questioning the screen in front of him.


    ¡°Can you show me any other upgrades or purchases I can eventually get?¡± Trying to add in enough conditionals or qualifiers was irritating, but Kairen wasn¡¯t able to have a conversation with whoever was running this thing, and it had already shown itself to be somewhat picky when it came to how it interpreted his questions. This was actually his third attempt at pursuing this line of questioning, each time trying a different phrasing hoping to get some sort of response. He felt there was more he should be able to do. He had heard of two cities built around Oases that had developed a magic that let them sleep better and a mirage-based defense, so he felt that he should have that same potential for growth instead of only being able to upgrade three basic qualities.


    Fortunately, it seemed like the third time was the charm, and after a moment to process his request the window expanded upwards as additional rows of windows came into view.

 Chapter 12: Kairen

    Kairen was grateful for whatever or whoever was behind the screens and their foresightedness when it came to aiding understanding. Even without any words to help describe things, there was still so much that he could learn from the visual display in front of him. A field of twenty-one images was displayed in front of him, arranged in three rows with an uneven horizontal spacing between the different images. Unfortunately, the new images weren¡¯t moving at all, making it far harder to figure out what was supposed to change if and when he purchased them. Kairen wasn¡¯t about to complain about it and risk having the still images vanish on him.


    Probably the most helpful feature were the thin lines that connected various images, starting from the bottom three and branching outwards and upwards like a tree. Or three trees, to be precise, since none of the lines formed a connection between his three initial options, leaving him with three distinct groups. The top row had lines that went even further up but didn¡¯t seem to be connected to anything. Kairen made a note of it to see if he could figure out what was hidden with a future request before returning his attention to the various images he¡¯d uncovered.


    The most obvious trait the second and third rows shared was that the costs were larger than the box that represented his maximum capacity. It didn¡¯t give him any ideas as to how he could increase his capacity, but it solidified his belief that he could and provided a reason that these choices had been hidden by default. There really wasn¡¯t much point in showing him options to select from if he wouldn¡¯t be able to actually choose them.


    Of course, even if he couldn¡¯t select them yet just getting a better idea of what his potential capabilities were was a blessing. It quickly became obvious that the three connected groups of options were three categories of similar abilities that he could invest in. The left category was all about defenses. While the primary focus was on keeping monsters away, some of the upgrades seemed to feature arrows, sandstorms and even the sun. Kairen wasn¡¯t quite sure how that last one would function, but the emphasis in all the images was on the barrier or other defensive measure present. Remembering how he died, trapped in a sandstorm, Kairen made a mental note to grab the sandstorm defense once he could afford it. Even if he couldn¡¯t die again, he didn¡¯t want to be stuck in the middle of a sandstorm any longer than he had to, and without any location to take shelter in he would have to spend the whole duration of the storm exposed to it and its effects. Then again, it wasn¡¯t like he interacted all that much with his environment, and his oasis seemed to remove any contaminants that fell in it, so there was a small possibility that Kairen could simply go to sleep on his waterbed and take a nap until the sandstorm abated. He wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d be able to let himself fall asleep though, even if the idea of simply ignoring a storm like that was appealing.


    The middle tree was focused on the Oasis itself. From increasing the size and depth of the spring, to expanding the grassy area that marked out the limits of his domain, the general theme seemed to be affecting the physical characteristics of his Oasis. He wasn¡¯t completely sure about that conclusion, as it only relied on the three images he could interpret. The three options that made up the third row of that category were more abstract and Kairen hoped he would get more information before having to decide on which ones to take. It was likely he would be given moving pictures to help explain things once he was able to select them. Kairen also saw the possibility of people settling in at his Oasis now that they knew about it. It was a slim chance at the moment, but he might be able to listen in on any teaching sessions they offered to eventually improve his reading capability. Even if neither of those things happened, he wasn¡¯t too worried. None of the images seemed to have any negative connotations attached, and Kairen had never heard of a broken oasis in his admittedly somewhat limited experience, so it seemed unlikely that selecting an unknown option would harm him. Delay his purchasing of other options, yes, but at the moment it looked like he had plenty of time to figure things out.


    The final tree was the one that gave Kairen the most headaches. The images were abstracted representations of their actual effects. It worked fine for the more physical effects, such as the defenses and improving the physical characteristics of the Oasis but fell apart when it tried to convey more esoteric information. What was shown was so varied and unusual as to make it almost impossible for Kairen to find a common starting point he could use to understand the message they were trying to convey. The only saving grace was the fact that he had a moving image for the first option, and that he had already purchased one level of it and could see its effects or non-effects, as it were. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Combined with his pre-existing knowledge and the areas that the other two categories covered and Kairen had a hunch that the theme for the last category was ¡®blessings¡¯ a vague catch=all term to describe the various boons and benefits that established Oases provided to the cities and settlements that grew up around them. The only problem with that idea was that most other Oases he had heard of only provided a singular benefit as opposed to the many options that Kairen could eventually purchase. Sure, there were some that could be thought of as separate effects such as the great temple of Ing increased energy, increased fertility, increased pleasure, and awareness of others could be seen as four different boons or boosts, but most just considered it a singular piece of sex magic.


    Kairen¡¯s best guess for reconciling the discrepancy was the assumption that the initial benefits of purchasing an ability were either minimal or subtle enough to go unnoticed. Despite the preview the moving image had provided, he hadn''t really noticed a surge in new animals, and it would take a good amount of time to actually see if anything was happening. Even then it might be difficult to pin things down. After all, how much of an increase in new animals was due to his blessing on the area, and how much would simply be due to having ample supplies of water and vegetation for the first time in their lives?


    Thinking about the animals gave Kairen an idea for something else to try. He¡¯d been comparing this screen to the one a Judgement provided since they both had similar appearances. Kairen had been more focused on the differences between the two, but now he was interested in exploring the similarities.


    ¡°Can you show me my status? I want to know what information you can give me about the Oasis as it is right now.¡±


    Unsurprisingly the unpurchased options faded away, leaving Kairen with three boxes representing his ability with small 1s centered directly above each one. The bar and numbers representing his current and maximum capacity also remained. He was slightly disappointed there wasn¡¯t more, but he guessed it made sense in some ways. He wasn¡¯t the human with statistical categories he was used to anymore. He was a guiding spirit for an Oasis, and these three boxes represented the sum total of his accomplishments. Still even if he was only the guiding spirit, Kairen hoped he had enough of a connection to the Oasis to get more information about it and pressed onwards with a series of questions.


    ¡°Show me what you can about the Oasis. What is the status of the Oasis? How much water is there in the Oasis?¡±


    The last one had a measure of success. Perhaps because the water was something he provided? Either way a small image of a travelling barrel appeared. It was a common enough size and shape that Kairen recognized it easily and was made to hold enough water to last a man a week; seven gallons. Next to it a number appeared and started counting upwards, slowly at first but speeding up until the numbers seemed to blur before finally coming to a stop. It was a big number. It took him a bit, but he was eventually able to provide some context to the number 5,145. Sitting in front of him was enough water to supply his old village for two years, all in one instant. Of course, that didn¡¯t take into account the spring providing that water, which seemed more magical than anything. His pool never overflowed, but he hadn¡¯t noticed the level dropping any either as the animals drank their fill, and the memory of the pool forming in an instant was still vivid and fresh. Of course, all this could be improved on in the next few days, making his source of water even more impressive.


    Kairen took a moment to appreciate just how much power he had. His condition insulated him from it to a degree, but in less than a week he had gained the ability to conjure up water on a level a grand hydromancer would be envious of, could do a better job of repelling monsters than any starting adventurer, and had the potential for so much more literally at his fingertips. He still wasn¡¯t sure it was worth the cost. His family was dead, his home was destroyed, and he was a ghost forevermore. For a long minute he simply wallowed in the sudden rush of emotions, the awe and wonder mixing and struggling against the grief and rage he had pushed away until now.


    The scream of a dying animal brought him out of his mood, and he watched as the group of jackals finished off the baby antelope they brought down. It lacked the experience to flee when it should have and had been caught while drinking from the oasis. Kairen felt a pang of pity for the poor animal that had its life cut short, but it served as a good reminder for him. He was hardly the only person to go through hardships, and instead of focusing on a past he couldn¡¯t change he should work on directing that energy towards the present and the future.


    Standing up he clapped his hands, wincing a little at the lack of impact or noise he had been hoping for. Still, he was determined to be productive while he waited for more people to arrive.


    ¡°Right. Time to get to work.¡±

 Chapter 13: Kairen

    Of course, getting work done required work that needed to be done. Kairen¡¯s enthusiasm petered out a few minutes after his eager declaration once he realized that his ability to be productive was still limited to simply waiting for new upgrades to become available. His declaration had still shifted his thinking away from his more depressing thoughts, so it wasn¡¯t completely useless, and Kairen forcibly kept himself from picking at those abandoned thoughts once he realized it.


    His primary method for keeping himself distracted was cataloguing the animals present in his oasis. Simply watching them was entertaining but not very engaging. His task was made far more difficult by the sheer number of animals that came and went. Some had taken up residence, but most simply took advantage of the ever-changing topology to drink their fill of water while a source was nearby before time and distance altered definitions of close and far once more.


    Even with the death of several camels due to the water elementals the rest had decided to stubbornly stick around. Perhaps they had some awareness of the anti-monster barrier he had created. Perhaps they simply didn¡¯t care about the loss of part of their herd. Perhaps they were simply ornery bastards who were too stubborn to move on anyone else¡¯s behalf. Kairen was personally betting on the third option, but he was still glad the camels hadn¡¯t left. He would have felt guilty if he had driven them off by accident, the deaths in some small manner his fault. Their constant presence and the area they slept, ate, and drank from was the stable constant that the rest of the Oasis revolved around. Antelope came and went, far too skittish to stay any longer than was needed to take a dink, unnerved by the hungry graze of the foxes and jackals that prowled everywhere the camels weren¡¯t. A few times the predators had tried to make their way over to the carcasses the elementals had left behind, only to be rebuffed by the still living animals. Not out of any concern for the dead, but just because they didn¡¯t want the meat-eating animals near them. Instead, it was the smaller animals that took advantage of the abundance of flesh. Rats, shrews, birds and small reptiles came and went as they took their share. More than a few were crushed as the camels moved around, but that didn¡¯t seem to stop the others for long, instead it simply added more meat in a small enough portion to be dragged away to safety.


    Kairen paid particular attention to that activity, out of both curiosity and a strange thought. It was fascinating to watch the negotiations that occurred between the different animals as they staked their claims and then backed it up with threat displays, bluffs, and actual violence. Kairen did note that while there were several rats present none of them made their way to or from the location where his body was buried. It seemed like his first ground bound guest was more than happy with the meat he already had available and had no intention of risking his life in search of more.


    With most of the carnivorous species distracted by the dead camels or busy eyeing the antelopes, the smaller herbivores had a rare opportunity. The oasis had sprouted a fair spread of grass when it had formed along with a few larger plants and rats, mice, rabbits, and small birds flitted around as they scavenged for seeds and other food. A couple were pounced on by the foxes, but it seemed to be more attacks of opportunity than dedicated hunting. Then again, without having to spend large amounts of time tracking sparse prey down Kairen wasn¡¯t too surprised that the foxes could simply let most of the prey in front of them go about their business. They were still getting as much food as they usually would and by not chasing after every prey animal in sight, they ensured that their next meal would be waiting nearby for whenever they wanted it. It didn¡¯t matter much to Kairen, and he simply made a note of it before moving on to catalogue the next population


    The next two days passed by at a steady pace, as Kairen patiently waited for enough resources to purchase his next upgrade. That was a small lie. Once Kairen figured out roughly when he could get the upgrade, he found it difficult to focus on anything else. Instead of waiting for the screen to appear on its own at dawn, Kairen went to sleep early the night before and woke up while the stars were still out.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Appear.¡± He called out and eagerly watched it pop into existence in front of him. All three options were fully solid, confirming what the bars underneath told him. He could purchase the second level of any of his abilities. As for which of the three options to get first, his choice was pretty obvious. Water was the main reason people would want to come here, so he should provide as much as he was capable of.


    It took a second for Kairen¡¯s finger to cross the distance and touch the screen to confirm his decision. It took all of thirty seconds for the water to begin to ripple as the Oasis prepared to change once more. It took one final second for him to realize the downside of his choice. The first purchase of the spring had had a visible effect on the area around it as it terraformed empty sand to fertile dirt and a rocky foundation capable of containing the water. At the time, the area had been devoid of any life with the sole exception being the poor rat that had probably done any panicking in its burrow as the sandy walls around it turned to dirt. Since then, the water and grass of the Oasis had attracted all sorts of animals to drink and rest nearby. Kairen winced as the second wave of changes took place. In an instant the area around the pool dropped by a foot as the ground was compressed downwards, widening the depression that the spring rested in. In the next moment, a wave of water surged outwards filling the newly expanded pool to the brim.


    While a good number of animals had left to go back to their dens or nests for the night, many more were either nocturnal or had settled down on the comfortable grass next to the oasis. All of those creatures were scared witless as the ground underneath them suddenly gave way before a wave of water sent them tumbling. The situation was comical in the case of the larger animals, but Kairen knew that the sudden submersion probably would end up killing several of the smaller beasts. The camels running around in confusion had already trampled over some other creatures in the dark and Kairen could see others flailing wildly as they tried to figure out how to swim, already off balance after being suddenly woken up and thrown around.


    Instead of laughing at the humor present, Kairen just watched and promised to remember that his actions and choices would ripple out and affect the world around him. The damage had been relatively minor, this time, but Kairen could imagine what would have happened if a city had been built up around him and he shuddered. The upgrades he couldn¡¯t decipher also became more ominous. He still didn¡¯t think any of the abilities would be harmful to the Oasis itself, but the sudden changes they brought could definitely do damage to anyone nearby when the changes occurred.


    Time kept moving while Kairen thought and soon the newly expanded oasis was empty. All the animals had either fled or had drowned, the bodies left behind in the water vanishing like any other debris that had fallen in. The quiet wouldn¡¯t last; already some animals were cautiously testing the new edges of the grassy area. Their fear of a repeat occurrence just narrowly overcame their desire for water, but time and need would dull the memory of this accident and eventually things would return to normal.


    In the meantime, Kairen made his way over to the expanded spring and jumped in. Without any creatures present to watch he had to do something to while away the hours, and the sensation of swimming was both novel and pleasant. His existence as a ghost might cut him off from much of the daily interaction he was used to, but that just meant he had to cling on to the benefits as much as possible. Even though the spring was relatively shallow, while Kairen was focused on swimming it was impossible for his arms or legs to clip against the bottom of the pool. It was a small benefit, but one he was grateful for as he freely swum back and forth.


    The sun slowly rose over an empty Oasis as a boy no one could see splashed away, leaving not even a ripple in his wake.

 Chapter 14: Ade

    Ade sagged in relief when he finally crested a sand dune and saw the Oasis in front of him. It had been a long five days, and his respect for his grandfather had risen considerably. Even with Grandfather, Amy, Kane, and Toor all helping him with the burden, trying to lead the entire tribe through the Shifting Sands was a massive strain. Every moment he wasn¡¯t paying attention was an opportunity for him to lose his sense of direction and start guiding the group away from the Oasis. Even the tribesmen who were championing him as his grandfather¡¯s replacement had been grumbling towards the end, but all that was behind him now. The tribe was safe, there wasn¡¯t anyone else who had found the oasis while they were travelling, and he could spend the next few days relaxing and ignoring everyone else.


    Having seen the Oasis with their own eyes, the tribe elders quickly took charge of the situation.


    ¡°Set up the tents over here, not on the grass! The animals need to eat that you have enough fat on you that you don¡¯t need the extra padding the grass would provide.


    ¡°Go ahead and start organizing baths for everyone, Sara. We might as well put the water we brought with us to good use before we refill everything from the Oasis. I can¡¯t believe how clear that water is!¡±


    ¡°Stop chasing the animals around boys. If your families don¡¯t need your help setting up tents and getting things situated, I¡¯m sure the cooks would love some extra hands to help get dinner ready.¡±


    ¡°Right then, I¡¯ll need the quartz crystal, the gold dust, and the incense from that chest over there. No, the one in the red bottle to the right. I¡¯ve taught you enough I thought it should be obvious by now. Watch carefully now because I¡¯m only going to do this once. Since we¡¯ll be staying in the area for a good period of time, we need to set up some magical alarms to warn us of danger. Normally we¡¯re either on the move or camping somewhere out of the way, but this Oasis will draw enough animals and monsters in that we want something to give us some warning. You might also need to use this outside of any cities we set up camp at, but that tends to be on a case-by-case basis and gets voted on by all the leaders. Gold dust isn¡¯t cheap you know¡­¡±


    Ade simply let the commotion wash over him as he staggered towards the cool water at the center of the oasis. It seemed larger than he remembered, but he hadn¡¯t really given it much thought, and was more interested in recovering his drained mental faculties than trying to figure out if something was different when he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about it. As he walked he began to strip down, peeling off the layers of wraps that protected him from the sun and the sands leaving him in his smallclothes and carrying a bundle of cloth by the time he reached the edge of the water. The washerwomen would clean everything later, doing an especially thorough job now that they had plenty of water to work with and not just alchemical mixtures and shaking, but for the moment his bundled clothes worked nicely as a pillow. Ade waded into the water and sat down on the bank, just outside the gently rippling waves the wind was stirring up. With his legs submerged he took a few moments to splash his upper body with the cool water before lying back on the soft grass. His pillow kept his head comfy and he grabbed a loose strip to put over his eyes shielding them from the sun overhead. Eventually he¡¯d need to move or risk getting sunburnt but that was a problem for future Ade.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Three hours of relaxation later and Ade was feeling mentally restored. He still wouldn¡¯t want to do any Pathfinding for a week at the minimum, but he had enough energy to interact with other people again. Getting up, he stretched before carrying his clothes over to the part of the Oasis the washerwoman had set up their work. It looked like most of the animals had been run off while he was dead to the world, with only a few animals cautiously drinking from the far side of the pool. Ade watched for a minute as the women went about their work. It seemed that whatever magic kept the pool clean was also useful against the dirt and detritus the clothes had collected. A few partially dissolved articles showed the flaws, but the quick dips the washer woman had ended up using seemed to remove the vast majority of dirt and stains with no visible damage done to the shirts, dresses and wraps. More delicate articles were being cleaned in portable bowls, the magic not present once the water had been separated from the source.


    It took a bit of rummaging through the piles of clean clothes to find an unclaimed tunic in his size, but soon Ade was dressed and on his way back to the main camp, where he could smell the delicious aroma of roasting meat. The hunters had been busy, and Ade could see two antelope roasting over fire pits while the cooks cut finished meat off of another pair and added it to a variety of dishes. While most were being held for a large celebratory feast later in the evening, Ade still left with his hands full of flatbread and strips of pepper-seasoned antelope steak.


    Actually getting to enjoy the food was another manner. Now that most people had settled in and now that Ade was looking more alive, he was instantly the center of attention. Everyone wanted to come up to him and thank him for finding the oasis, before then spending as much time as they could chatting and getting to know the ¡®young prodigy¡¯. Ade eventually just started keeping his mouth full of food so he wouldn¡¯t have to talk and nodded and shrugged along with the tribesman before pulling away at the earliest opportunity.


    Eventually he made his way over to the command tent that had been set up. While not an official rule, most people were discouraged from going inside by the scolding the Elders would hand out when they needed to use the place and found it occupied. Ade wasn¡¯t immune from such scolding, but records and other resources for the Pathfinders were kept there providing him with a small excuse to deflect their ire. A simple mumbling of ¡°Pathfinder business¡± held his admirers at bay long enough to slip inside.


    The sanctity of the tent held, and Ade enjoyed the fifteen minutes of peace and quiet that it took for him to finish his meal. Before he could do anything else though, a procession of Elders and Pathfinders entered the tent.


    ¡°Oh good. You¡¯re already here, Ade. We need to talk about what comes next.¡± Elder Gomer said as he shuffled over to a cushioned chair that had been set up.

 Chapter 15: Kairen

    Everyone was happy today. Kairen was happy to have other people present, even if they were nomads. The adults were happy to not be travelling for a while. The hunters were happy with the abundant game present. The children were happy that they had a large grassy area to play around in. They were even happier that they could fill cups of water to throw at each other as they tumbled around. They had been told in quite clear terms that they weren¡¯t supposed to go swimming until Healer Elan decided it was safe, but that didn¡¯t stop the more adventurous kids from approaching the edge cautiously, only to flee giggling once an adult noticed and yelled at them. Kairen suspected they were having more fun pushing the limits of the rules more than they were actually interested in swimming, given how unlikely it was that any of them would have been able to try before now.


    Watching the kids wore on Kairen though, as it reminded him that if the world were fair, he would be there playing with them. He¡¯d be a ringleader who would come up with games for the younger ones to play and would get to show off his knowledge of the area, pointing out the rare or unusual animals for them to gawk at. Instead, he was stuck as an invisible bystander. It made the experience bittersweet, and Kairen found himself wandering elsewhere, curious as to what the rest of the tribe was doing.


    Even though the area of the Oasis had expanded when he upgraded the pool, Kairen found that he still couldn¡¯t leave the Oasis. He had more grass and water to move around on, but that didn¡¯t help him much when most of the nomadic tribe had set up camp outside the oasis on the sand. With envious eyes he watched as all manner of dishes were prepared and cooked. Delicious aromas began to fill the air and Kairen could feel his intangible stomach begin to growl. Drinking Oasis water had helped him avoid feeling hungry, and despite not eating in a week Kairen didn¡¯t feel any weakness of body or mind, but as he watched the feast being prepared just out of reach it became harder to deny the fact that he really wanted to taste food again.


    Standing at a barrier looking at food he couldn¡¯t eat wasn¡¯t a good idea. Kairen made his way back to the pool to drink down some water to take his mind off of things, and then found himself sitting and listening to the group of women who had marched over to the shore to do their laundry. He winced a little when the first items of clothing began dissolving. Nothing that he knew said that would happen and it looked like some of the damaged items held sentimental value to their owners. Kairen¡¯s only consolation was that he provided more benefits than drawbacks when looking at the greater picture of things. Even then, he wanted to do something to make it up to the washerwoman. Maybe he could get a cleanliness blessing at some point?


    Eventually they seemed to get a system worked out and Kairen let himself relax, closing his eyes as he let their idle conversation wash over him. The gossip about things happening in their tribe was unfamiliar in the details, but was hauntingly familiar in tone. Shayla and Tirn¡¯s halting relationship wasn¡¯t something he had known about before today, but the way the women discussed the seeming inevitability of their eventual marriage was something Kairen could remember hearing every time his mother had her friends over for tea. The language was inclusive, welcoming him as they shared the small secrets that made a harsh style a little bit easier to bear.


    All too soon they had run out of gossip to share and laundry to wash and started packing up their supplies and organizing the clean and dry clothes into bundles to carry back. Nearby children were snatched up as additional mules and soon the procession was on its way back to the camp.


    The sun had almost set and Kairen was ready to say his goodbyes for the night and go to sleep, only to be pleasantly surprised. While the nomads had set up camp outside the oasis and had let their herd animals loose to graze and drink, they were more than willing to take advantage of the comfortable seating he offered. Large rugs had been placed on the ground and were held in place by heaping trays piled down with all sorts of dishes. Dogs patrolled the edges of the picnic area, keeping the other animals away from the tasty food. A few trotted around with bones held in their teeth; early rewards for their work as sentinels.


    As Kairen watched he saw one person grab a horn and start to blow it. Upon hearing the signal most of the camp started to make their way over to the feast, gathering around the edges and waiting expectantly. The reason for their delay soon became obvious as Kairen saw a group of older people slowly make their way over from the camp. The children were obviously impatient and ready to eat by the time everyone had arrived but were held in place by their parents as the oldest person made his way towards the center of the group and prepared to speak.


    ¡°We never know what tomorrow holds. Sometimes it will bring tragedy. Other times it will be unasked for blessings. A week ago we did not plan on being here today, but our honored Ade not only found this Oasis, but he managed to lead us here quickly and safely. This feast is a celebration of our good fortune, but it is also a celebration of the man, the Pathfinder, who made it all possible. Ade, the first dish is yours.¡± A young man made his way through the crowd, brushing his hands against his tunic as the crowd began to cheer for him. He acknowledged their gratitude with an awkward nod, before leaning down and picking up a plate of dried fruit desserts. Biting into one was the signal everyone else had been waiting for and they surged forwards to partake of the celebration.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Kairen also made his way forwards to get at the food, only to stumble across a small problem. He had no guilt about trying to eat the food, even if he was not technically invited to share it. There wouldn¡¯t be a feast without him, after all, so social mores didn¡¯t hold him back. His problem was more practical. How exactly was he supposed to eat if he couldn¡¯t pick up any of the food? Leaning over to drink water straight from the source was one thing, something anyone would do, but eating food off of the ground using only his mouth felt demeaning. Animals ate like that, and Kairen still had a shred of his dignity left that kept him from simply kneeling down and going at it. For a good minute he simply stood there as people moved around and through him to grab at their favorite dishes.


    It wasn¡¯t a perfect solution, but he managed to find a method of eating that let him hold onto most of his dignity. He might not be able to pick up any of the food, but everyone around him was, lifting it off the ground to a level that was more reasonable to eat at. Most of the time they were grabbing small pieces with their hands and transferring it directly to their mouths, a process that was too quick and intimate for Kairen to try and take advantage of. Instead, he focused on the mothers or fathers that grabbed a whole dish to take with them and feed their family from. Eating while walking was tricky, but the same intangibility that was the source of so many problems helped with this task. With no need to worry about dropping the dish or hitting the plate or running into anyone or anything, Kairen could simply put his head into the space the dish was held at and eat. And eat he did, dashing from plate to plate as he tried the local cuisine.


    The experience wasn¡¯t quite as fulfilling as drinking spring water had been. Perhaps it was because the water had been his in some mystical sense, or perhaps it was due to a different set of rules involved for food instead of drinks. Whatever the cause, Kairen quickly discovered that eating food in his current state left him with nothing to chew. The flavors from each bite he took were replicated fully, and after a week of involuntary fasting he reveled in the flavors of meats, vegetables and spices as they mixed on his tongue. There wasn¡¯t any physical object in his mouth for him to chew or mash, while Kairen could get a feeling of texture he was unable to interact with it. Much like the flavor it was simply there, constant in its presence, and was something he was aware of until he swallowed the ghostly mouthful down.


    This meant that when Kairen took a bite out of a dish with far too many peppers in it the taste stayed in his mouth far longer than he wanted it to. Swallowing it was impossible as his tongue rebelled at the sudden heat and his throat closed up. The lack of anything tangible in his mouth made it feel like he already had eaten the cursed dish and was simply left with the burning aftertaste. It was only when the taste refused to diminish and continued to burn away that Kairen realized his problem and ran towards the water to drink away the pain. Fortunately, the flavor vanished as quickly as it came and Kain made his way back to the party only a few moments later.


    After that incident he was a bit more careful with what dishes he chose to eat from. He had already sampled the foods he could recognize by sight, and overheard conversation made it clear that the unknown recipes needed ingredients that hadn¡¯t been available in his home village. Out of the mystery dishes he decided to focus on enjoying the dessert dishes. Not only could he eat as much as he wanted without depleting the plate, but there was no one around who could scold him for his greed. That they were the dishes least likely to surprise him with more spice also played a part in his choice of food.


    Night fell and the party continued, lit up by torches and a few small pieces of light magic that floated in the air. Soon everyone had eaten their fill, even Kairen, who was busy considering the drawbacks of metaphysical stomach aches. The younger children began to drift off and were taken back to the camp, while the older children were entertained by a grandmother who had taken on the role of a storyteller for the evening. She had obviously had a good deal of practice at it, and her voice rose and fell, changing timbre and pitch as she played various parts with a quiet energy that drew her audience in.


    Kairen groggily dragged himself to his feet and began to make his way over to join them when a sixth sense made him stop and pull up his status screen. It took him a second to identify the cause, and even longer to believe it. His resource pool was completely full. He¡¯d been stockpiling in order to purchase another upgrade, but he hadn¡¯t been expecting to be able to purchase it until the next morning. Somehow, he had completely shot past his goal of 150 points to spend and had gone all the way up to 250, his new maximum after purchasing his latest upgrade to the pond. It still hadn¡¯t been enough to unlock the second tier of upgrades, and Kairen had mostly ignored it, given he had expected that he would be spending his resources before reaching even his old limit. Now he was grateful for the increase, as it let him stockpile more for after his next upgrade, something Kairen felt he would have to do soon.


    Even though he had hit the maximum the screen said he could have of the mysterious resource, more was still pouring in. While the amount shown wasn¡¯t changing Kairen could feel a strange pressure building up inside him, similar to but different from the stomach ache that was slowly fading. It wasn¡¯t physically painful, but it was a pressure that demanded action. Further confirming this feeling was the fact that the two upgrades available to him had started to pulse, slowly at first but picking up speed. They weren¡¯t pulsing together but were alternating, first one growing brighter than the other, as if the screen itself was trying to pick for him, and would if he delayed too long.


    Kairen didn¡¯t feel ready for this. His last upgrade had unintentionally drowned a host of small animals, and while the monster repelling shield and the fertility upgrade were more subtle, Kairen couldn¡¯t know that there wouldn¡¯t be any side effects. The last thing he wanted to do was to harm these people who had fed him and provided him with companionship, but a change would happen, whether by his hand or not. He had to choose.

 Bonus Chapter: Creation Myth

    ¡°Gather close, children, for I have a tale for you, one I haven¡¯t told in years! Did you ever wonder where everything came from? Yes Cid, I know you¡¯ve heard this before, but I need you to be quiet so the others can hear it too. Now where was I? Ah yes¡­¡±


    The God Outside All Things was content. From his power and with his hands many worlds had come, and many planes had been impressed onto the immaterium. Each was unique and each was a treasure in his eyes. Soon he would spend his time watching his creations learn and grow wise as they came into the fullness of what they could do, but before that he had one task left to see through.


    ¡°Come!¡± He called, and the spirits of the lands and the seas, the rocks and the trees all rose to stand before him. They came in endless variety and represented all of nature as he had formed from mind or whim.


    ¡°I wish to thank you.¡± The God Outside All Things decreed. ¡°For a world without variety is a dull thing indeed. From desert sands to frozen lands, all here have followed my demands and settled into their places large or small. In return I offer fitting reward for all¡±


    In his vast hand he formed a spark that formed a seed. ¡°Hark! My gift is neither Plane nor World but something greater once unfurled. A place of growth, of grand extremes, where you can all do as you deem.¡±


    The greater spirits came to the fore, Six or seven, or maybe more. To receive His final child. The place we know as the Endless Wilds.


    The spirits talked with gift in hand, of how they¡¯d change once barren land. Each wanted to grow, to become great, to push their limits while they create.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Water was the first to build; an ocean formed, with water filled. Then grown so vast and far and wide that none have seen the other side. Then terrors came and filled the deep, the Ocean¡¯s secrets theirs to keep.


    ¡°They shall not cross my darkest depths, not with their largest fleet. My guards will break their strongest hulls, will make them claim defeat. I. Am. Not Tame.¡± The Vast Blue claimed its name.


    An Ent was next to say his piece, as shepherd for the trees. ¡°No need have we, to be the seas, where monsters lurk and violence breeds. We seek to rest, to live, to grow; to reach the skies, send roots below. Let all else live as best they know, however that may be.¡± And thus The Forest came to be.


    The earth itself was split in two; disagreement over what to do. A split of great and small. The first formed mountains tall. And though the mountains did not speak, they are now known as The Jagged Peaks


    The small rocks gathered beneath the sun and trapped the heat till glass did run, molten through the dunes. ¡°No gifts have I, no treasured boons, what men might build I¡¯ll tear to ruins beneath the fickle moon. Harsh lessons breed men harsher still; Men with iron hearts and will. Find strength to live in this land.¡± This is The Shifting Sands.


    Winter¡¯s Hold was the next to form, a bastion opposed to all things warm. With icy walls and frigid bite, and constant blizzards to cut off sight. A place so far from hotter climes that all things freeze and fleck with rime.


    The grasslands were the last to take their place, no great ambition to embrace. ¡°I am not hot nor cold nor dry, I have no depths, don¡¯t chase the sky. I need no extremes to fill my days; let grasses grow and groundlings graze. It is enough to simply be.¡± Were the final words of the Amber Sea.


    ¡°This ends my tale for you children. Perhaps some other night I might tell you of the forest that grew in the air, or perhaps a story of places stranger still, but for now you should sleep. Sleep and dream, and dream sweet dreams that color your days with brightness.¡±

 Chapter 16: Kairen

    A forced choice wasn¡¯t much of a choice at all. Kairen found himself swearing under his breath as he darted forwards with his finger. It made contact. The screen vanished. There was a long moment of silence, as Kairen braced himself for disaster to strike. Slowly, slowly he let himself relax as nothing seemed to change. No one around him seemed to notice anything different as the celebration wound down and the adults began the tedious work of cleaning everything up. It looked like he had gotten lucky this time.


    Kairen frowned. Choosing the monster barrier option had been a spur of the moment decision, but he didn¡¯t think it was the wrong choice. He regretted delaying his initial purchase of the barrier and that regret certainly had played a large part in him prioritizing upgrading it, but beyond that it felt like it was the option that would be useful sooner. The fertility increase was a long-term investment, taking months or years to have any benefit depending on the species involved and the specifics of how it worked. The barrier upgrade didn¡¯t change things immediately but would show its value as soon as monsters managed to find their way to the Oasis. Considering the water elementals had managed to do so in only a few days, more monsters likely wouldn¡¯t be all that far behind. Having better defenses was always a good thing and Kairen wanted them even more now that he actually had people present that he wanted to protect.


    Of course, he was still limited in purchasing further upgrades by his maximum upgrade point capacity, for lack of a more accurate name to describe it as. With the immediate crisis taken care of and with no obvious repercussions for his choice revealing themselves, Kairen resummoned and turned his attention back towards the screen.


    As he expected, purchasing the upgrade had increased his capacity once more, putting him at 100/300 upgrade points available. The larger capacity was nice by itself, but the greater benefit was the fact that 300 upgrade points was enough to unlock the second row of upgrades as well as the third level of the first row. It might take a couple of days to gather the points, but Kairen suddenly had a lot more options to direct his growth heading forwards. Of course, that assumed he was still gaining upgrade points at the rate he had been before today.


    Somehow, out of nowhere, over one hundred and twenty extra points had been added to his bar. Unexpectedly gaining points was certainly better than losing points like the water elementals had done to him, but Kairen didn¡¯t like the mystery of where the points had come from. For the next hour Kairen watched his screen as the tribe of nomads finished cleaning up and went to bed leaving only a couple guards awake. He continued watching until the guards changed shifts, at which point he stood up and cracked his nonexistent back.


    The numbers didn¡¯t add up. The nomads hadn¡¯t been keeping their guard schedule secret, especially considering that they didn¡¯t know anyone was around to overhear them, so Kairen knew the guards had shifts for a fourth of the night. From there it was easy to figure out how many points he got during a shift, and then convert that to points per day. It had gone up. While before Kairen was getting fifty points a day now he was earning seventy-two or so. It was a large increase, but not enough to account for the drastic change he had earlier. Even if he hadn¡¯t checked it since the morning, getting an extra hundred over the course of the day was triple or better his old rate, a far larger improvement than he was seeing.


    Kairen wondered if it made a difference if the people were inside the oasis or not. It wasn¡¯t like he could change anything at the moment, but he¡¯d have to keep an eye out tomorrow to see. Out of curiosity, Kairen found a discarded roll of bread on the ground and tried to eat it. Even though it had picked up the gritty flavor of dirt, it was still tolerable, and Kairen managed to get a few mouthfuls out of it before it stopped having any taste. Curious, he paid closer attention to what he was doing, but even though he was very clearly putting the food in his ghostly mouth he wasn¡¯t able to taste anything. It looked like he was taking something from the food when he ate it. Perhaps he was consuming the ghost of the food? Kairen snorted at the mental image of an afterlife filled with mountains of pastries before shaking his head. It was good to know that he couldn¡¯t just eat one thing over and over again, although it was unlikely to be a real issue. Whatever he did to the food didn¡¯t seem to hurt it as far as regular people were concerned, and a tribe as large as the one that had found him would go through enough food that Kairen didn¡¯t really have to worry about running out.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A quick check of his status screen did show that despite tasting the food and getting something from it, it didn¡¯t seem to provide him any upgrade points for doing so. That wouldn¡¯t stop Kairen from eating when the opportunity was in front of him, but he also wouldn¡¯t have to force himself to pig out for the benefits. His stomach grumbled uneasily as he thought of the stomachache he had gotten yesterday. Indulging his gluttony once was an experience he had no intention of repeating.


    Out of ideas for the moment as to the cause of his windfall, Kairen focused his attention on the upgrades available. Having a large enough pool to purchase the second row of upgrades had caused the screen to replace the static images with moving ones, and Kairen wanted to learn as much as he could about his new choices just in case he ever found himself forced to choose quickly. The greyish cast the screen used to show that an option cost more than he could afford did increase the difficulty of making out details, but despite asking in a dozen ways for it to be removed it remained stubbornly present. He was able to ask for specific images to be made larger, and even without color Kairen felt like he had a good idea as to what was being offered.


    The defensive tree had two new upgrades. The left upgrade was represented by a series of monsters shrinking slightly when they passed through the barrier around the oasis. The size change varied between monsters without any pattern that Kairen could distinguish. It obviously interacted with monsters in some way, but what it actually did was something he wasn¡¯t so sure about. Shrinking monsters just didn¡¯t seem to be that great of an effect, considering that it only shrunk them down a little and that quite a few monsters didn¡¯t rely on their size to be dangerous. Poisons, magic, and any elemental creatures would be basically unaffected, and the giant monsters that lurked in the deeper parts of the Shifting Sands wouldn¡¯t care too much either. An eight-foot long Nemean Lion was just as deadly as a nine-foot lion as far as a regular guard or animal was concerned. It only seemed to affect monsters though, so it would be a safe upgrade to pick if he were forced to. The other upgrade in the defense tree was clear as his water by comparison. His barrier would be able to deflect some of the force of a sandstorm. A straightforward choice, and one that would benefit from being chosen multiple times.


    The middle tree was also straight forwards. Three options to choose from, one that increased the depth of the oasis, allowing him to increase the amount of water available without dramatically changing the area around it. The second option would increase the grassy area of the oasis, giving Kairen more land that fell under the various protections and benefits he could offer. The third and final option increased the quality of the plant life, and at the first level would add some small bushy plants and flowers to the otherwise plain grass.


    The final tree of upgrades was the most complex. With five different options to choose from and a wide variety of blessings possible, Kairen was extremely grateful for the extra information that the moving images provided. The first image was the easiest to figure out, as it featured a person doing hard labor while other people collapsed from exhaustion doing the same work. The next one focused on two individuals training their martial ability, both against each other and against practice dummies and tools. The middle option was a long cycle of different individuals each doing a unique action, and after watching the image cycle a few times Kairen moved on to the fourth option. Much like the second option had featured individuals fighting, this one featured two people learning magic. Sparks and other things shot forth from their hands as they used wands and staves to slowly practice their abilities. The final choice showed a woman teaching a group of children. Using a stylus, she carved various numbers and symbols on the soft clay wall behind her, an action the students copied as they wrote in the sand in front of them.


    That left Kairen with blessings to enhance endurance, fighting, magic, learning, and one more blessing that he could just ignore for the moment. With so many upgrades available it wasn¡¯t like he¡¯d be forced to pick a specific one any time soon. The moving image of the woman teaching also reminded him of his goal of learning to read. There were quite a few nomadic children around and Kairen was hopeful that someone would use the downtime while they were at the oasis to work on their education. There wasn¡¯t any guarantee that they¡¯d be learning to read and write, or that they¡¯d be doing so somewhere that he could listen in, but his chances were far higher today than they had been yesterday.


    All that could wait for the future though. Kairen was getting tired, and it didn¡¯t look like he had to worry about suddenly getting another large boost while he slept. He knew enough about his available options to be happy with any choices he did make in the coming days, and satisfied for the moment, the young ghost went to sleep.

 Chapter 17: Ade

    The next morning was a strangely quiet time. Ade wasn¡¯t about to accuse any of the respected elders of being hungover, but at the same time he wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if they drank more than they should have at the celebration last night. For most of them it wasn¡¯t a serious issue, but Ade was positive that Elder Shan would regret his excesses with the amount of travelling that lay ahead of him.


    The discussion the previous day that Ade had been pulled into was not a pleasant one. Ade didn¡¯t claim to be an elder or have any sort of special knowledge or leadership ability that meant he should be responsible for making weighty decisions, but he was the Pathfinder who had found the Oasis. With the discussion revolving around that same Oasis, all sides had wanted Ade present; a pawn they could use to weight things in favor of their arguments.


    The problem facing the elders was that the tribe they lead wasn¡¯t equipped to easily settle an Oasis. Finding and securing the priceless source of water was one thing, but the question then became what next. Of the seven elders present, only Elder Gomer thought the tribe should try to settle the Oasis by themselves regardless of the difficulties involved in that task. Far too many of their members had skills that couldn¡¯t be put to use at the Oasis, and they lacked both building and farming materials to truly turn the Oasis into a habitable settlement. Even Ade¡¯s grandfather Ahten throwing his support behind Gomer wasn¡¯t enough to sway the other elders from their choices. As far as the majority was concerned, the potential rewards of having a city of their own in the future didn¡¯t outweigh the difficulties they would face in the moment trying to reach that point.


    The other six elders were split between two positions. While they all were eager to sell off the Oasis, trading its location for treasures the tribe could more easily use, they disagreed as to who they should approach in order to make the sale. The oasis was extremely valuable, so valuable that it drastically limited who would have the wealth and inclination to purchase the rights to it. While any nearby settlement would be more than happy to uproot themselves for a life at an Oasis, their ability to reward the nomads was limited to good relations. A round of derisive chuckles showed how little value the elders put in that currency lasting very long. The other side of the equation was that those with wealth were likely to be quite content with their current situations and thus unlikely to invest in the construction of a new Oasis. A few might be interested, but it would take time and careful negotiations to make such a deal happen.


    Three elders were in favor of trying to find such a benefactor in one of the larger tribes. The Cloudchasers, Sunwalkers, and Dune Shepherds were all mentioned, tribes with multiple Pathfinders, with dedicated water mages capable of supplying the needs of hundreds. All were tribes large enough to have the manpower to develop the Oasis and were in possession of treasures that could be traded fairly including magical items such as Everfull Barrels to Stormshields.


    The other three elders argued that just because the larger tribes could develop the Oasis didn¡¯t mean they would want to, considering just how much it would change the lifestyle they were used to. Instead, they argued for heading to an existing Oasis and trying to find a backer there, where it would be easier to purchase the necessary seeds and building materials at the same time.


    Ade¡¯s stance on the matter most closely aligned with those of Elder Gomer and Pathfinder Ahten. As such he mostly threw his support behind the pair while they worked to find a compromise solution. An offhand comment he made was the start of that compromise. ¡°How exactly are you going to find the tribes?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t impossible to stumble across other groups out in the Shifting Sands, but it was rare, even with a knowledgeable pathfinder in charge. The pathfinder might be able to take you to where another group had been but catching up to their current position was far trickier. Instead of dashing across the desert hoping to run into another tribe the consensus was for two elders, one from each faction, to head out with Pathfinder Ahten towards the nearest city. While they were there they could work on meeting with the local rich people and talk with travelers who might give them a better idea as to where the larger tribes might be located. They could then head from city to city trying to make that connection, and if they found an interested businessman that both elders could work with then they could simply form the agreement there and return to the Oasis. The small group would also plan on visiting the Oasis every few months to provide status updates as well as to resupply and pick up goods for trading.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    That agreement meant the main tribe would be without its Pathfinder for a long period of time. While they didn¡¯t plan on doing any travelling away from the Oasis, all the elders thought it would be best to have a Pathfinder named and present just in case. Despite Ade¡¯s polite protests, he had been publicly chosen at the celebration the previous night and would be in charge of all Pathfinding while his Grandfather was gone.


    The small group was able to move quickly, and it didn¡¯t take long before they had left the Oasis behind, vanishing over sand dunes as they weaved a path towards whatever city happened to be closest. Once they were out of sight everyone went their own way, leaving Ade and Elder Gomer standing alone. Ade watched as Elder Gomer began to rub his hands in glee.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind a bit of hard work, because I¡¯ll be keeping you busy, Pathfinder Ade.¡± He motioned for Ade to follow him as he strode back to the camp. ¡°I¡¯d be surprised if they manage to make a deal in the next couple of months, so we have some time to get things set up, but the better our position is before they return, the more likely this is to work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t understand, Elder.¡± Ade admitted.


    ¡°That¡¯s all right. You¡¯re young and have plenty of time to learn how to be a conniving bastard before you end up on the council. It¡¯s all about giving people what they want, but in a way that works for us. Two groups both want to negotiate their own deal? Have them work together and they will spend almost as much time working against each other as they will working towards their own goals. I don¡¯t think Elder Shan and Elder Jero will actively sabotage each other, but they will certainly find it harder to close out a deal with the other constantly pointing out the drawbacks of any deal they do. And while they are busy elsewhere, we are here with the tribe, plenty of idle hands that wouldn¡¯t mind putting a bit of work in to make their lives more comfortable. We might not be building any marble monuments, but I¡¯m sure some nice mud brick shelters would be an easy thing to build. And the longer it takes to reach a deal, the more time everyone has to get settled in here, the more likely it becomes that I can convince some of the other elders to take a chance and try to build something more permanent.¡± Elder Gomer patiently explained.


    He stopped walking and turned to give Ade his full attention. ¡°I can''t do it without you, Ade. We¡¯ll need resources that aren¡¯t¡¯ present here, as well as someone to guide hunting and mining parties to and from the Oasis. The other Elders were right that most people have skills that won¡¯t be used here, so I¡¯m counting on you to help make things possible. I want our people to be happy, and while that means making sure that they have enough food and water and supplies to stay alive, it also means making sure they have a sense of purpose. Will you help me?¡±


    Ade thought it over for a moment. On one hand, what Elder Gomer said made a lot of sense. People would need something to keep them busy and for the miners and the hunters that meant heading out into the Sands. Tor, Amy, and Kane could help, but Ade was the only one of the four who had been recognized as a full Pathfinder, and without his participation things would fall apart rather quickly. On the other hand, he had been looking forward to taking a break, to spending some time simply relaxing. Maybe even heading out into the Shifting Sands by himself with no obligations or objectives other than returning back to the camp before too much time had passed.


    Ade barely kept himself from sighing. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± he asked, doing his best to keep his tone even. He might resent the obligations his abilities pushed on him, but he wasn¡¯t about to refuse them, not when it would hurt so many other people.


    Elder Gomer peered at Ade a moment before responding. ¡°For now, nothing. Take a few days for yourself, relax, recover your energy from guiding us all here. I have to go around and see if anyone shares this vision of mine, as well as simply getting a better handle of what resources we have already and which ones we''ll need to gather or trade for. Even then it won¡¯t be too much of a workload for you. Most of the work will be done right here, and I¡¯m sure the miners wouldn¡¯t mind a light work schedule.¡± With a clap on the shoulder the Elder parted ways with Ade, on the hunt for the next person he wanted to convince to help him with his plan.


    Ade, meanwhile, made his way over to his tent. With practiced ease he quickly put on all of his gear, before making his way over to the cooking area to grab some supplies. Some bread and meat leftover from the feast was quickly wrapped up and stuffed in his bag and Ade made his way out of the Oasis into the desert before anyone could stop him. He had implicit permission to go do his own thing for a couple of days and if he stuck around the camp it wouldn¡¯t take long before people found him and began to bother him. It wasn¡¯t the long journeys he hoped to make someday, but two days with only the sun for company was just what he needed.

 Chapter 18: Ade

    Ade spent a lot of his time thinking about what Elder Gomer had said. ¡®Give people what they want in a way that works for you.¡¯ Everyone wanted him to be the next Pathfinder, and until now he had resented the idea while grudgingly going along with. Now he had the time and perspective to re-examine some of the assumptions he had made earlier on in his life.


    He hadn¡¯t wanted to be Pathfinder because he wanted to spend his time exploring on his own. Really, he had two separate desires. He wanted to have time by himself without anyone relying on him, and he wanted to explore the Shifting Sands, to see new sights every day instead of traveling back and forth between the same five cities and ten resting spots. Looked at together it was difficult to align his goals with those of leading the tribe, but looked at separately gave Ade a spark of hope.


    Ade was not his grandfather. If he did take up the position of Pathfinder he would have a large say in determining how the tribe would operate. It wasn¡¯t like he was a slave they could force to work and while he doubted the elders would let him act like a dictator outright, Ade had gotten a glimpse yesterday at the politics that took place in the Elder¡¯s tent. Even if the current Elders stepped down and nominated replacements, Ade doubted the structure of how decisions were made would change. It would take developing his political skills, but in return Ade could transform the Pathfinder role into a position he would be more comfortable accepting.


    If Ade couldn¡¯t head off on an adventure by himself, the solution was simply to bring the tribe along with him. The current activities the tribe undertook were low risk, but low reward as well. The established relationships they had with the cities and towns they stopped at guaranteed them buyers for the plants, minerals and materials they gathered and harvested in the Shifting Sands, but those same purchasers were interested in relatively common goods. Salt, the sheep and goats transported from one place to another, the rare gold and the more common iron sand sold easily but didn¡¯t command the same prices as the rarer or more magical treasures that could be found deeper into the Sands. In order to have a chance at success when heading deep into the Sands Ade would need to improve his pathfinding skills to the point he surpassed his grandfather. The tribe as a whole would also need to reorganize, putting a larger emphasis on their ability to handle monsters as well as picking up the knowledge necessary to handle the more esoteric resources such as singing crystals, but the rewards for doing so could easily convince the more greedy elders to support such a plan.


    It was a lot to think about, but none of it had to be done overnight. Ade would have years to hone his skills and build a faction of men and women who supported his vision, and even if he wasn¡¯t ready when he took up the mantle as Pathfinder he could simply keep improving and acting to put things in place to make his dream a possibility. It would be a lot of work, but he was hopeful he could accomplish it.


    The need for solitude was probably the easier goal for Ade to obtain. Much like how he was currently wandering the desert by himself, there would be times that the tribe would be stationary for a while, either trading at towns or camping in a spot to let the various craftsmen and workers go about their jobs. Not falling into either category meant that Ade should have the freetime needed to simply head out by himself and explore for a while. He could already hear objections about the risk of letting the Pathfinder head off by himself, but that became simply a matter of stubbornness and capability. Stubbornness to outlast or override their objections, and capability to render them irrelevant. Ade was passable with a sling, and knew the basics of fighting with a spear, but improving those skills to the point he could fend off stray monsters would go a long way to nullifying any opposition to his walkabouts


    Turning his occasional solo trips into something recognizable as a habit would also help his goal. If heading out into the Sands by himself was already something he did regularly before taking up the position as Pathfinder, then he would be even more justified in keeping up the practice. Finding the time to start working on the new habit would be tricky given the expectations already laid on him, but not impossible. A good trick would be if he could find a way to make his solitary expeditions beneficial for the tribe. Heading out to go work would meet a far different reception than sneaking off into the desert to avoid doing chores around camp.


    Simply finding new locations for the tribe to harvest resources from was out of the question. Ade had gotten extremely lucky to have found the Oasis as quickly as he had, and even then it had taken days of travel before he stumbled across it. Trying to do something similar over a shorter time period before he would have to make his way back to the tribe would almost never give him useful results. A day of following the vague trail that his Pathfinder ability provided would simply leave him stranded in the middle of the Sands. Combined with the difficulty of bringing a larger group along the same path and Ade was almost ready to give the idea up completely. Almost, but not quite.


    Pathfinding was a much larger discipline than most people realized. Some. like the Navigators, had a natural ability that heavily favored a specific style of Pathfinding, but given enough time and training they could match a regular Pathfinder with their capability of discovering new places. It rarely happened simply because most ability development was focused on the most important aspect of Pathfinding; the number of people that could be brought along. Ade knew he would need to work harder on that aspect of his training if he chose to pursue the first part of his plan, but in order to justify his solo excursions he was more interested in training a lesser known ability.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Path Sense was the official name for the sixth sense that helped guide Pathfinders to their destinations. Most Pathfinders developed it to the level that they could keep their bearings in a sandstorm and then focused on other areas of development. But Path Sense was a unique sense, and there were complex nuances to the interpretation and understanding thereof. With enough practice it became possible to approximate the length of the path being followed. Unfortunately, that distance then required interpretation based on the size of the travelling party, how deep into the Sands the Pathfinder was, and the speed at which they planned to travel to actually become useful. Even then it often didn¡¯t help much. Each city kept track of rough travel times to known settlements and sites of interest nearby, while Pathfinders seeking out new locations didn¡¯t care how long it took them to reach their destination, just that they could find it and then leverage the knowledge of its location for a reward.


    Ade saw a couple of ways he could utilize it for his own advantage. At the moment it would help him with his task of taking small groups of laborers to and from locations they could harvest resources not present at the Oasis. He had a couple days to practice and even information as simple as knowing which locations were closer or further would help Elder Gomer plan better. In the future, once he developed the skill further, it would help the tribe as a whole plot their way across the sands. Being able to feel out the length of various trips would allow for more aggressive travel plans, allowing the tribe to head off the recorded routes without needing to worry about the surplus of supplies that explorers usually carried. Heading from settlement to settlement without stopping by a city in between would go a long way towards helping the tribe prosper.


    A quick look around confirmed that Ade was all alone and he sat down, closing his eyes to better focus on his Path Sense.Thinking back to what Elder Gomer had mentioned in terms of supplies needed had Ade focusing on plants and where to find them. It was a broad enough request that he wasn¡¯t at all surprised to get a strong response urging him forwards, but instead of immediately following it Ade simply waited. He studied the impulse as he did so, trying to tease out more information from the sense than just his next step. Finally, after two minutes or so, he renewed his focus on his goal, this time doing his best to ignore the direction he already knew of. It was difficult, like trying to look past a bonfire to see what was happening on the other side, but much like his eyes would, his Path Sense slowly adjusted.


    The original path was still present, but behind it Ade could feel other impulses, other mental nudges that if followed would lead him to places where plants grew. Actually trying to follow one of those paths led to instant failure as Ade lost the connection after taking a single step. Despite knowing it was there, the connection was simply too fragile to utilize. He didn''t have enough information about the destination that path led to to try and head there specifically. Instead of following the secondary paths, Ade sat down and tried to gain more information from his sense. It took far longer than simply becoming aware of the paths, but Ade eventually managed to associate a certain intensity with the paths he could sense. At first it was easy to believe that the intensity of the impulse was related to distance, but as Ade sat and absorbed the sensation he realized that wasn''t accurate. More than any other factor, the intensity and priority he assigned to the different directions seemed to be based on how closely it matched his desires. The problem with mental desires was that it was difficult to keep them completely pure, and Ade¡¯s own thoughts on what plants should be found determined which path felt most right to him. Trying to narrow his path down from all plants to specific types helped, and Ade observed as different paths rose and fell in priority or vanished completely as he worked through the medicinal and edible plants that he knew of.


    Awareness of the alternate paths was a good start. In an area as seemingly endless as the Shifting Sands almost anything could be found if the pathfinder was willing to travel far enough. What did it matter if there was a second location that met your needs when you could have the confidence that the pathfinder would head to the closest one? The real benefit to Ade of seeing multiple paths was the ability to compare them, to use the differences present as practice to increase the fidelity of his Path Sense.


    One trap that Ade did his best to avoid was tying the information he received from Path Sense to any of his other senses. It was an easy trap to slip into as early on it provided an improved ability to understand and interpret the Path Sense. The downside didn¡¯t become apparent until later, once Path Sense picked up the limitations of the sense associated with it. Despite functioning similarly to sight, hearing, or smell it wasn¡¯t any of those senses and was capable of interpreting information in ways that would be confusing or contradictory if it was any other sense.


    Ade managed a half hour of practice before feeling the need to get up and move. Following the path laid out for him was simple enough but Ade moved slowly, doing his best to pay attention to not only the path he was following but also the other paths that were offered as options, noticing the changes that occurred as he moved closer or further away. It was a delicate process, and Ade knew it would have been impossible if anyone else had been nearby.


    Ade passed the rest of the day practicing, moving most of the time and stopping only for short breaks to gather his bearings, eat a handful of food and rest his legs before continuing onwards. Every now and then he switched his focus towards traveling back to the Oasis, confident that his constant alternation between paths meant he was unlikely to go over the same ground twice.


    With dusk Ade switched his path one last time, following it until the terrain around him shifted from sand dunes to barren, rocky land. It was still part of the Shifting Sands, and Ade picked his resting place carefully, choosing a leaning rock that would protect him from the worst of the elements and the casual gaze of any wandering animals. One more day of practice would hopefully be enough for him to head home with tangible results to share.

 Chapter 19: Kairen

    Today was the day, Kairen had decided. He would have enough upgrade points to purchase a second tier ability in just a few hours. And it seemed like he was not the only one excited for today. The nomads had been relatively relaxed the last two days since the feast. While they took care of chores and other necessary work like cooking and taking care of their animals, for the most part they seemed content to laze about and enjoy a break from their regular routine. Playing in the pond was a favorite pastime of kids and adults alike. The cleaning magic present had made them cautious at first, but once they realized that it didn¡¯t seem to affect living flesh at all they quickly changed their attitude. Knowing that they couldn¡¯t spoil their water supply even if they wanted to gave them the confidence they needed to go wild, roughhousing in the shallows and throwing mud balls at each other. Kairen had felt a little awkward at the casual approach to nudity the tribe displayed but his awkwardness at the situation soon faded. It wasn¡¯t like smallclothes would last long playing in the water, and the sheer lack of concern they had for their state of dress helped Kairen slowly accept it as just another difference between nomadic culture and the culture of his village.


    Despite their enjoyment of the easy life, it looked like the unofficial vacation had come to an end. While some of the younger kids were still running about with abandon, everyone older than five was moving with purpose. Armed with shovels, a group of burly men began digging out a pit in the dirt to the north of the pool of water. Another group of men and women used improvised sickles to cut away at the plants growing around the pit. Everyone else followed behind them, picking up handfuls of the plant matter and carrying it next to the pit where they placed it in a large pile. Soon the pit was deemed large enough for their purposes and the real work began. Buckets of water were brought over from the pond, and tossed into the pit, along with handfuls of leaves and stems and roots. The largest three men present jumped into the pit and began to wade through the resulting mud.


    ¡°More dirt. A few more leaves.¡± The group kept up a constant stream of communication, working to bring the muddy mixture to a specific consistency. They didn¡¯t seem to be having any success and soon a break was called as they talked about the issue.


    After a bit of arguing a messenger was sent to retrieve Healer Elan. She apparently had a bit of experience with alchemy, and everyone was hoping she could help them transform the mud into something a little bit more solid.


    Kairen had only ever heard of alchemy, never having had a chance to see it performed for himself. He was more than a little disappointed when Healer Elan showed up carrying a pot of what seemed like water. He had been hoping for a grand display of magic, or at least some magic words, but as far as he could tell the novice alchemist had already created the necessary reagent using his water and a few minimally magical ingredients she kept on hand.


    ¡°We¡¯ll make sure to get those replaced as soon as possible.¡± Elder Gomer thanked the healer before signalling everyone to continue their work. The magical water was slowly added into the pit where it began to do its work.


    Instead of transmuting lead to gold or any other legendary feat, Healer Elan had simply made a potion that would turn dirt into clay. Only a fraction of the mess present in the pit was actually affected, but it was enough to give some consistency to the sludge and it didn¡¯t take long after that for it to start firming up as the men continued to stomp and work the mixture. Once it had reached a certain level of clumpiness they began to shovel the mud onto the edge of the pit, where it was quickly grabbed and formed into bricks by hand before being carried over to an area that had been designated as the drying zone. There wasn¡¯t a furnace to fire the bricks, but the sun overhead was hot and bright and would get the job done.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Kairen watched them work until they took a break for lunch, which lined up nicely with his own plans. In just a couple of minutes he would be able to get his first upgrade from the second row, and after thinking it over the last few days he had chosen the option that provided more plant life. Some options probably were more subtle if he was hoping to hide his changes, and some of the blessings might have a greater impact on the tribe, but Kairen felt like increasing the variety and amount of plant life present in his Oasis would go a long way towards helping the nomads out. He had overheard them talking about various resources they needed, and while Kairen couldn¡¯t provide any metal, he could create new plants. The system didn¡¯t say what exactly would be created, but he was sure the tribe would find some value in the new additions, whether as medicinal herbs or a food source or simply as fuel for their fires. No matter the use, Kairen hoped to convince the nomads to stay in the area longer than they would have otherwise. Satisfied with his reasoning, Kairen pressed the screen to confirm his choice and watched the changes propagate.


    For the most part plants in his Oasis grew naturally. The exception to this was when Kairen purchased an upgrade, as the System provided a burst of growth to bring the new plant life to maturity. It had happened both times Kairen had upgraded the pool and it was happening again as various bushes and shrubs popped out of the ground and grew to maturity over the course of minutes instead of months. Less obvious were new types of grass and other small plants making an appearance. They blended in with the existing ground cover, their growth really only visible in the area that had been trimmed down to the ground. Unlike the animals, there wasn¡¯t any fear at the sudden change. There was a nervous energy at first, but it quickly gave way to celebration as the nomads realized the change was a good thing. Once again Healer Elan was called for, this time for her knowledge of herbalism, and the joyous energy of the tribe rose with each new plant that she identified and listed the benefits of.


    All told there were three varieties of shrubs present and ten new types of ground cover. Six of the groundcover types were simply variants of a single species. The leaves acted as a stimulant and the different varieties contained different dosages that corresponded with altered coloration. It didn¡¯t take long for the tribe as a whole to realize the implication and while a couple of people began collecting it right away, a group of mothers gathered up all the children and made it quite clear what the consequences would be if they were caught eating any of the leaves. Kairen hadn¡¯t heard Healer Elan list any side effects, so he was pretty sure the warning was just to avoid having to deal with hyperactive children instead of any actual concern for their health.


    The increased supply of plant material to work with let the workers accelerate their pace and soon the desert north of the Oasis was littered with bricks. The earliest ones were mostly finished drying and were starting to be stacked up into piles in preparation for later construction. Said construction was already being prepared for. Unlike the tents which were set up out on the sands, the buildings were going to be built in the Oasis to take advantage of the better foundation present there. A shovel was used to dig out a narrow gap to lay the first row of bricks into, but any actual construction would wait for another day.


    ¡°Dinnertime!¡± A cook called out and everyone happily abandoned their work to go clean up and eat. The amount of mud that had built up on most people meant that the fastest way to clean up was simply to toss all the clothes into a pile that would be a headache for the clothes washers before jumping into the pool. The cool water was especially refreshing after working hard all day, and the cooks ended up having to call a second time to get everyone out and heading towards the meal.

 Chapter 20: Kairen

    The last few days had flown by in a flurry of construction and creation. Seeing the Oasis grow so suddenly had been taken more or less in stride by the nomads. The elders went around and assured everyone that changes like that were simply part of the magic of an Oasis which removed any lingering fears or nervousness, but the awareness that the Oasis was alive was now present in their consciousness. Most simply accepted it as fact and moved on with their lives, but a few adjusted their behaviour slightly. The more spiritual members of the tribe had begun to leave out small offerings for him. While some took the time to bring their offerings into the Oasis, most simply left them at the entrance to their tent, where they would stay until an enterprising pet or kid got hungry. Meals once again were being served at the camp, and while Kairen enjoyed sampling the small offerings he got, he wanted more.


    Increasing the size of the Oasis was his next upgrade, for multiple reasons. More water was always a good thing, but Kairen already had more than enough to meet the needs of the tribe, their animals, and the few wild animals that came and went freely. Of more concern was the construction the nomads had begun inside the Oasis. While they were building at the edge for now, Kairen figured that they would eventually start to build inwards to take advantage of the stable foundation his ground provided. Kairen wanted to grow his pool as much as possible before they did so, while it was only grass that would be dropped into the expanding pond.


    The immediate benefit of upgrading the size of the pool was the proportional increase in the area around the pool that belonged to Kairen. He watched as his boundary surged outwards, heralded by a wave of sand turning to dirt and beginning to sprout green growth. More area to move around in was nice, but the position of the camp hadn¡¯t changed. It was now inside his boundary, and Kairen freely moved around, enjoying being surrounded by all the small pieces of daily human life.


    He quickly found out he couldn¡¯t walk through walls, even ones made of cloth. It wasn¡¯t a question of the material or physical capability; more than once the nomads or animals moving about had passed right through Kairen¡¯s position, without affecting the young ghost at all. He could even reach his invisible hands out in front of him and advance until it seemed like they were on the other side of the cloth barrier, not that there was anything he could feel or touch there. Despite trying to trick himself by walking backwards through the tent wall it quickly became apparent that Kairen¡¯s viewpoint had to enter tents the normal way. Most of the tents were kept open to avoid it becoming too hot inside but walking around the private settings he saw quickly lost his appeal, and Kairen switched his focus to following the elders of the tribe around. Not only did it give him the best picture of what the tribe was up to, but they usually had access to the best food and drink, and Kairen enjoyed sampling the various treats they kept for themselves.


    The second upgrade the tribe witnessed saw quite a few more people fall into the habit of leaving small things for him. While most of the bricks being produced were used to build a large structure, there were enough malformed bricks to put together a small pillar near the edge of the pond. Kairen made a habit of stopping by there to sample the food left, but the location meant that quite a few of the gifts were tossed directly into the pond, where they quickly dissolved. Those offerings weren¡¯t a complete loss, as Kairen noticed that he received upgrade points from their actions. It was only a few points per day, but it didn¡¯t cost him anything, and it was the first source of points that Kairen knew the cause of. It wasn¡¯t enough for him to figure out how that part of the system worked, but it was a point he could start from.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame Pathfinder Ade couldn¡¯t find any wood to bring back.¡± One worker chatted with another as they put the finishing touches on the building they were working on.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too hard on the boy. He¡¯s helped bring back more than enough things and it isn¡¯t his fault wood is so scarce in the Sands.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying this building would look a lot nicer if we had a few beams to work with.¡±


    The lack of wood definitely limited the tribe¡¯s ability to build. For the most part the nomads simply adapted, using the dug-out pits as the basis for small half-buried shelters with curving brick roofs. The big building they were constructing was simply too large to try and use a domed roof, and instead a large tarp was repurposed as a ceiling for the large building. Wanting to help, Kairen had looked over his options, but while upgrading the variety of plant life did provide larger options at the second level, it would either take multiple upgrades or a different choice altogether before he could create trees. A few seeds had been planted, but no one in the tribe was proficient with plant magic and they would need to wait for the trees to grow naturally before they could harvest any wood from them.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Even with a cloth roof the new building served its purpose as a convenient gathering place. Most evenings Kairen could find a grandmother or grandfather sharing various stories before the children were sent to bed. Oftentimes the stories were myths or tales, but occasionally more personal stories were shared, from thrilling battles against monsters to the misguided courting attempts from the youth of one old miner.


    ¡°Back in those days I really hadn¡¯t figured out what girls were like. I had already realized they were far smarter and wilier than I ever would be, but I thought that if I could just get one to notice me then they surely would fall for my handsome good looks and my irresistible charm. That¡¯s where Stick came in. Stick was a brownish vine snake I¡¯d picked up by accident but then decided to keep as a pet. It wasn¡¯t like he did much, but he didn¡¯t eat and only needed a bit of water, so my da allowed it. Now the whole tribe knew that Stick belonged to me, so I figured that Stick could be my messenger. Now I didn¡¯t know how to write or anything, but I still figured it would be obvious what the message was when I snuck Stick into Mag¡¯s tent. Little did I know that Stick decided it would be a great time to be active for once.


    Mag found Stick not in her tent, but in the dress that she decided to put on the next day. With the way she was screaming, everyone thought some kind of monster had attacked her and came running, only to see her half-dressed, trying her best to get Stick out of the back of her dress where he had gotten all tangled up.


    I, being the dumb boy that I was, simply stood there and watched. Some of the other girls helped her get Stick free and once she wasn¡¯t distracted by a snake in her dress she started stomping her way over to me. I thought everything was going perfectly until the moment she slapped me hard enough to send me to the ground.


    She kept her eye on me after that, through every trick and dumb thing I did. Somewhere along the line she decided she actually liked what she saw, and we got together, easy as that.¡±


    The audience was torn on the ending, with some wanting to know more about how he got together with Mag and the rest wanting to hear more about Stick.


    The meeting hall also became the main location that group discussion and planning occurred. Elder Gomer was the main person organizing things, but everyone had ideas, requests, and demands they wanted to make known and the meeting hall was the place they could do so. The elders did their best to listen to all issues brought to them, but they weren¡¯t shy about giving out their opinions.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Jute, but we won¡¯t be sending Pathfinder Ade out to find tobacco just because your stash ran out. You can try and trade with someone who still has their own stash left, or you can head outside and try lighting plants on fire till you find one that works for you. I don¡¯t want you bringing this up again. This is your problem, not the tribe''s. Deal with it.¡± Elder Arun coldly dismissed one petitioner. He expected people to try and handle their own problems, and only bothered with issues or problems that he saw affecting the tribe as a whole.


    ¡°Next!¡±


    ¡°Elder Arun, we¡¯ve stayed here long enough.¡± The motherly woman began, before being quickly cut off.


    ¡°We¡¯re not moving just because you want a change in scenery.¡± Aron wearily retorted. The look he sent her way told her just how often he¡¯d had to say that line. Instead of backing down and leaving, the woman continued talking.


    ¡°Oh no! I like it here. Having so much water makes cooking and cleaning far easier. It¡¯s about the children. We¡¯d usually be travelling by now and they would be having lessons, but instead they¡¯re simply running around being a general nuisance. A few are old enough to be put to work, but I was hoping you could find the time to resume teaching the younger ones.¡±


    Elder Arun took a long moment to think about it. Everyone had been far too busy adjusting to their new circumstances, and the children had slipped through the cracks. While they were dragged in to help with a few of the more general tasks for the most part they were simply ignored and set loose to play around the Oasis. It meant the adults could focus on their work, but it wouldn¡¯t do to simply ignore the future generation.


    He nodded slowly. ¡°I will talk to the other elders. It may not be tomorrow, but I can promise you that we will resume teaching soon.¡±

 Chapter 21: Kairen

    It took two days for the elders to get the education system organized. Kairen didn¡¯t pay much attention as they went around talking with various tribesmen, working to arrange schedules so that all the children could be present at a single time. His focus was once more drawn to his pool of upgrade points and his next choice. While a part of him wanted to increase the Oasis size once more he currently couldn¡¯t afford to do so. He needed at least one more upgrade, maybe two before his pool would be large enough to purchase the fourth level of the pond size choice. Improving his total area by grabbing the grassy area upgrade was also considered, before being ruled out. There didn¡¯t seem to be the same damaging downsides the pool upgrade came with, and there really wasn¡¯t anything outside his current zone of control except for more sand. What really drew Kairen¡¯s attention were the blessing upgrades.


    He still hadn¡¯t seen any evidence of the fertility blessing at work. He supposed he did have a lot of insects, but he didn¡¯t know enough about them to say it was due to his blessing and not just the general resources present. The humans hadn¡¯t seemed to notice the fertility blessing, given it wasn¡¯t something they mentioned during their daily offerings. Those offerings were what encouraged him to choose a blessing. The nomads were vaguely aware of his presence and had a positive impression of him. Originally, he had been worried that his blessings would be noticed and turned against him in some way, but that fear had slowly proven itself to be groundless.


    If they noticed the blessings Kairen figured they would treat it as a positive thing. And with school starting, he thought that it was a great time to purchase the blessing that featured a teacher educating a group of students. More selfishly, he hoped that the blessing would extend to affect him as well. Kairen hadn¡¯t liked school and hadn¡¯t had an easy time learning in his own village. While he was more motivated now to pay attention and work hard, he would take any advantage he could to help him learn to read as quickly as possible. Before selecting it Kairen made his way over to the nomad camp. He wanted to have a good view to see if anyone present noticed that something had changed.


    The camp was a bustle of activity as people woke up and started their day. Breakfast for the nomads usually consisted of leftovers from the previous night supplemented by bread, cheese, and cured meat. It was a casual affair, and more than one person walked around while they ate, catching up with their friends and neighbors before the heat and strain from work made casual conversation a chore. Selecting the education blessing was the work of a moment, and Kairen wanted eagerly for it to take effect. He felt it pass through him like a ripple; a single moment where something just beneath his notice changed but did so in a way that he couldn¡¯t make note of what exactly was different. He wasn¡¯t the only one who felt it. Most people continued with their conversations, unaware of what had happened, but here and there people paused for a second, some young, some old, men and woman alike who were just a bit more in tune with the spiritual side of things. A moment later they resumed whatever it was they had been doing.


    ¡°Must have been a breeze.¡±


    Kairen knew that whatever benefits the ability provided would be subtle at best, but having confirmation that some people were aware of it was gratifying nonetheless. Something happened when he purchased the ability. It wasn¡¯t simply a waste of upgrade points that he could be using on other purchases.


    A second later he looked at his newly updated screen and revised that thought. The cost for the next purchase of the education blessing had increased as was expected. He could just barely afford to purchase it again with his new total pool size of 450, but what really soured his mood was the fact that the cost of every other blessing in the second row had increased as well.


    ¡°Sandy shits and scum water!¡± Kairen couldn¡¯t bring himself to use the serious swear words he had overheard at one point or another since no one was actually hurt, but he really wasn¡¯t happy with the unexpected twist and wanted to make his feelings known. He had thought he had a fairly good idea of how the window worked, so having this thrown at him was an unpleasant surprise. He verbally released some more of his frustration until he felt himself begin to calm down.


    ¡°It could be worse. It could have made me choose only one blessing ever.¡± It was a bitter truth, but Kairen knew that being forced into a single upgrade path wouldn¡¯t have been out of the question. Every other Oasis he had heard of only offered a limited set of magical benefits that usually were tied together. The various blessings he could purchase seemed to be subtle enough that they might slip beneath notice, but what Kairen was seeing was a mechanism to encourage specialization. Providing all the blessings at a high level was simply out of the question.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The rest of the morning passed by quickly. School was scheduled to take place in the afternoon when it would be too hot outside to work. The hours until then were filled with people getting ready. The older children focused on their apprenticeships, while the younger ones focused on their chores before managing to sneak away for some rough fun.


    ¡°What are you doing? How did you get so dirty in ten minutes? Your father will have words for you when he hears about this.¡± One mother was quite upset with the mess her son had made. ¡°Strip. Give me those clothes to wash and go clean yourself up. You have half an hour to get clean, eat lunch and get to the gathering hall for lessons.¡±


    The same scene played itself out with different mothers and sons, but most of the children simply had the dirt brushed off their tunics before they were bustled away for a quick meal.


    Finally, finally, Kairen joined the group of kids as they made their way from the camp over to the gathering hall. Most carried small mats or cushions to sit on while the rest seemed content to sit on the dirt floor. Soon everyone was organized, and Elder Arun took that as his cue to make his way to the front of the room.


    ¡°Good afternoon.¡± He said firmly and clearly. It took a bit, but his presence quickly quieted down the murmurs and whispers as everyone focused their attention on him. Once he was satisfied that everyone was listening, he continued speaking.


    ¡°As many of you already know, we as a tribe will be staying here at this Oasis for a while. This means that our traditional habit of working on your education while travelling needed to be altered. Knowledge is a treasure that no one can steal from you, and as such we expect every one of you to treat this time and these lessons with the value that they are worth.


    While I am your teacher for today, that will not always be the case. However.¡± Here Elder Arun paused to glare at the room, all the firmness he was known for as an Elder coming to the front. ¡°I expect you to treat any instructor you might learn from with the same respect you would have if I was here in the room, watching you.¡± Kairen wasn¡¯t even the target of the threat, but he still felt himself gulp nervously.


    ¡°Some of you might feel like they already know what I am about to teach you. You will still listen, until you reach the point where you can repeat my lesson word for word. Some of you might be hearing this for the first time or might have a poor memory. Do not bother me with your questions. Ask those students who are older than you or boast of their knowledge. If they do not know then find someone else to ask. Only as a united group may you ask me about any topics that you do not remember.¡±


    Satisfied with the basic rules he had laid out the Elder began the business of teaching. The brick wall behind him had been surfaced with the clay mixture to make it smooth and straight. The wall was plain brown, but Arun reached his hand into a small pot at the foot of the wall and drew out a simple brush dripping with a black mixture. The strokes he made were choppy and it took a couple of passes to complete his work, but soon a straight black line crossed the middle of the wall. Judging his work to be adequate, he made his way to the left end and made a simple mark just above the line.


    ¡°My lesson for you today focuses on the most important knowledge you will ever learn. While you are here you will learn many things that will help you survive out in the Shifting Sands, but only my lessons will help you live. A life must have meaning, and I will teach you what it means to be a nomad, what it means to be a member of our tribe. Listen closely for what I share with you is our history in its fullness the heights and depths that brought us to where we are today.¡±


    Elder Arun continued speaking, but Kairen found it hard to make out what he was saying over his own thoughts. He had been in most of the tents in the camp, but only now did he realize what he hadn¡¯t seen there. There hadn¡¯t been any books or scrolls, with the sole exception of Healer Elan¡¯s tent. The tribe had a strong oral tradition. They shared tales and songs for entertainment, their history was memorized and passed down generation to generation. For the most part they had as little use for writing as Kairen had had before his death. There were exceptions to this rule. Kairen had no doubt that all the elders could read, but they wouldn¡¯t bother taking the time to teach everyone to do so. Learning to read would simply become part of the training for their apprentices to complete. Kairen might be able to listen in on one or two of those lessons, but there were only five or six apprentices that might need to learn to read, compared to the forty some kids hanging on Elder Arun¡¯s every word.


    It would still be worth hanging around the Healer and Pathfinder tents to learn what he could. Even if he didn¡¯t learn to read, having more information was always helpful. There was also a chance that some of the people he would be spying on would read out loud. It wouldn¡¯t be as helpful as actual lessons, but even being able to recognize more words would help him figure out what the screen was trying to tell him.


    It was still another setback to his plans, and Kairen took a moment to acknowledge that. It was easy to say that he should look on the bright side of things, that he was still in a better position than he had been yesterday, but right now Kairen was feeling a bit too upset to really think such thoughts. He had had things all planned out, only to have them not work out because the nomads didn¡¯t have the decency to care about writing. Pushing the whole matter out of his head as useless, Kairen focused his attention on Elder Arun, letting himself get lost in stories of a better time.

 Chapter 22: Ade

    They were closing in.


    Ade took a moment to mentally curse the fickle nature of the Shifting Sands. He couldn¡¯t do so with actual words. Every gasping breath was devoted towards fueling his burning muscles, straining desperately to keep some distance between him and the monsters behind him. Ahead of him he could make out the rest of the small expedition helping each other along. Some of the older workers were being half carried by the younger guards, but they valiantly continued to hurtle forwards. No one even thought about leaving them behind. There were enough monsters in the world already.


    Normally Ade would lead from the front, picking out the best path to get to and from their destination. He had developed a working camaraderie with the miners, harvesters and guards that were sent out on a daily basis to gather resources and supplies to take back to the tribe. He knew his limits, and had kept to the safest paths possible, staying away from the deeper parts of the sands where the monsters and other dangers dwelled. But despite his Pathfinding ability, despite his caution, despite the short trips and shallow paths, Monsters had still found them. Ade didn¡¯t know what exactly the cause was. Perhaps they had accidentally strayed far enough into the Sands to attract attention. Perhaps the monsters had followed another group out of the depths. Perhaps it was simply bad luck. Whatever the cause, it led to this moment, where Ade trailed behind his fellow nomads as he utilized every half-remembered trick to stay on the right path and slow down the sand wolves behind him.


    Sand Wolves share a lot of the same traits with their animal counterparts. Canine Predators that hunt in packs, with keen noses and long legs that let them cover incredible distances while pursuing prey. The key differences between sand wolves and regular wolves are size and lack of hair. It isn¡¯t a joke to say that sand wolves are monstrous in size. Most are five feet tall at the shoulder, while the pack leaders have been known to grow up to eight feet tall and fourteen feet long, a size made possible only with the aid of the energy that all monsters draw from their environment.


    The sand wolves are perfectly adapted to the desert dunes they call their home. They need no fur coats to handle the cold. Instead, their skin is bare; a leathery layer capable of turning aside arrows and blunting attacks that grows stronger as they age. As ambush predators the wolves roll in the sand, covering themselves to the point they blend into their surroundings, almost impossible to detect with the naked eye.


    It was only luck that their first target was an armored guard instead of a far less defended miner. The guard¡¯s helmet and breastplate kept him alive long enough for the sand wolf to be driven back, but that was simply the beginning of the nightmare race to safety. Every dune they crossed potentially held another sand wolf lying in wait for the party to get close. Forewarned, the guards managed to deflect most of those probing attacks without injury, but every wolf that was turned aside was one more that joined the pack stalking slowly behind them, and every cut taken was another source of blood leading the monsters on and driving them into a frenzy.


    It was a slow race at first. The humans took their time to move ahead cautiously, while the wolves continued to let their ambushes play out as their numbers slowly grew. Every now and again a wolf would leave the pack and vanish behind a dune, presumably repositioning itself in front of the party to launch another attack. What worried Ade the most as the leader of the group was the missing alpha. Without his presence the wolves were content to continue their harassment, but once the alpha made an appearance, either with its own ambush or simply by joining the pack tailing the nomads, Ade knew the situation would change.


    It was Ade¡¯s pathfinding ability that saved them. He had enough sense of direction to realize that the wolves were herding them towards a specific dune. While it was directly on their path back to the Oasis and didn¡¯t look any different than any other pile of sand they had crossed, Ade decided to alter course. A desire to get back to the rest of the tribe without crossing that dune, combined with a slight adjustment in course, led to a new area of the Shifting Sands inserting itself to the side. The wolves were caught off guard, and with a sudden burst of speed everyone managed to get past the sand wolves before they could block the new path.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Behind them the ominous dune exploded as the sand wolf alpha leapt from its buried position. An eerie howl filled the air and grew in chorus. The chase was on.


    Ranged weaponry saved the nomads from the first charge. Until now the wolves had either been hidden or out of range, but their sudden rush to catch up and take down the humans provided ample targets to hit. Ade was comfortable using a sling, as were most of the adults present. It was a small enough weapon to easily carry around, and everyone grew up practicing with it, first as a toy and then as a backup weapon. The few workers who weren¡¯t competent simply threw stones instead. The goal wasn¡¯t to bring down the wolves, but simply to keep them away. One guard had Skill with a sling, and his shots were fired off like bullets. Even then they mostly bruised the wolves, but one lucky shot managed to penetrate an eye. That wolf collapsed in a heap, either dead or simply in too much pain to continue moving. The rest of the pack slowed but didn¡¯t let up.


    Volley after volley was thrown to keep the monsters at bay. Each stone was spent to buy some hundred feet, but the nomads¡¯ sling pouches weren¡¯t endless, and every hill the crested only to see more desert meant that time was running out. Ade could feel that they were getting close, he encouraged his companions with those words, but no one could say just how long it would take to escape the Shifting Sands.


    With only a couple stones left, Ade called for the group to halt.


    ¡°We¡¯ve made it this far; we can make it the rest of the way. I can¡¯t tell you the Oasis is over the next dune, or even the one after that. I can tell you that it¡¯s a straight shot home from here.¡±


    Ade took a break from his speech to help push back the wolves. The monsters must have sensed that things were coming to a close and pressed harder than they had before. Only barely were the wolves convinced to draw back, and most of the slings threatening them were empty by then.


    ¡°No time for a long speech. Breathe deep, run hard. I¡¯ll buy us all as much time as I can. I¡¯ll be right behind you. Now GO!¡±


    His last word was the signal for the final segment of the race to begin. The nomads were familiar with the desert. They had lived all their lives there and knew how to move over the sand without being tripped up or slowed. The sand wolves possessed monstrous physicality and were born to hunt the dunes. It shouldn¡¯t have been a contest. Two things kept the humans alive.


    The first was fear. Nothing was held back; no thought was spared towards keeping energy in reserve for a desperate last stand. Even if one or two wolves could be brought down there were enough wolves to ensure there would be no survivors. The nomads ran at a pace that should have left them exhausted after a hundred meters only to keep sprinting, knowing their very lives depended on it.


    Even then the wolves would have outpaced them, but for Ade. He didn¡¯t need to use his Pathfinding ability to lead his fellows home and turned it towards a different purpose. The desert behind Ade began to warp as he put every last ounce of his capability towards misdirecting the wolves. Even though they could see their prey tantalizingly close in front of them there was no straight path connecting the two groups. Time and time again the wolves found themselves angling off to the side, and once or twice two wolves running alongside each other impossibly collided, falling down in a tangle that bought precious seconds.


    Normally such feats would be impossible for Ade to accomplish over such a short distance, but for the wolves themselves. They were monsters, creatures that were born and lived in the depths of the Sands. They possessed a metaphysical weight that pulled them down, a nature that was opposed to the shallower, safer parts of the Sands. Chance or the trail of lighter creatures could let them escape, but only briefly. Ade used that fact against the wolves, reading his Path as he went and pushing against the wolves¡¯ presence. He held only the tiniest hope of actually losing the predators, but it was buying him the time needed to keep moving onwards.


    Suddenly a cry went up as they rounded the base of a dune. There in front of them was the Oasis. The cry was quickly picked up by the camp as the alarm was raised. Even if the wolves weren¡¯t visible yet the speed at which everyone was moving was cause enough for alarm. Already the guards were rushing forwards, looking to reinforce and protect the weary workers. They were almost safe. Even if the wolves attacked, Ade and the rest would be able to hold out until their reinforcements arrived.


    Yet still the wolves came on.

 Chapter 23: Ade

    The deadly race had come to an end. The guards were roused, weapons were drawn, and the next few minutes would determine who would live, and who would die. Unexpectedly it was Elder Zin who made the first move. He was long past his prime and even though he walked unaided with his back straight, the years had taken their toll on his strength and his teeth. One thing age couldn¡¯t take away from him were his skills. Zin had left the tribe in his youth to become an adventurer. He returned four years later wiser for the experience, with a set of tales that only came out after the wine was flowing. He had served as a guard for a good twenty years after his return, only stepping down at the request of his own son. Even then he kept his eye out for any youth with martial talent and did his best to draw it out of them. Every guard present was someone he had personally trained, and Elder Zin wasn¡¯t the sort of person to be passive when lives were on the line.


    A lunging strike allowed Elder Zin to close the gap between the camp and Ade¡¯s group in a blur. Sword first, he impacted the closest sand wolf, his blade piercing the tough skin as if it wasn¡¯t even there. At the same time the normally restrained elder released his bloodlust, a primal feeling that froze the wolves it was directed at. The alpha was unaffected and it didn¡¯t take long for him to galvanize the other wolves back into their attack. Those moments gave the defenders the time they needed. Fresh guards arrived and positioned themselves between the weary miners and the monsters, while the apprentice healer began to administer healing tonics to the heavily injured.


    The alpha sand wolf barreled forwards, two tons of killing machine focused entirely on destroying the old man who had appeared and killed one of his pack members. As it charged, it howled, and instead of following him on his attack the rest of the pack split, running forwards on either side of the defensive position of the nomads. They had a different target in sight.


    ¡°The children!¡± Ade realized and shouted out. He might not be able to intervene himself but he could at least alert others to the problem. School was finished for the day and the children had been happily playing in the Oasis. They knew just how serious the defensive alarm was, and all of them were making their way back to the safety of the camp, but their legs were short and more than a few had already tired themselves out while playing. As such they were caught out in the open, unable to run or fight as the sand wolves closed in. The adults coming to help fight the wolves immediately switched directions to position themselves between the monsters and the children, spears pointed forwards threateningly. Unwilling to impale themselves the wolves slowed.


    An unofficial rule of adventurers was that monsters always had another trick to play. Whether a piece of magic, the ability to exceed their regular level of strength, or some other ability that allowed the monsters to survive in environments that would kill a human in hours. The sand wolves proved the truth of that adage as they approached the guards. With a ripple of muscle the layer of sand that coated their bodies and acted as camouflage was expelled outwards. For a second a thick cloud of sand filled the air, blinding everyone present. The sand wasn¡¯t fine enough to stay up long, but the momentary distraction had served its purpose.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The wolves couldn¡¯t see through the sand any better than the humans and instead of risking a blind attack against the thicket of spears they once again went around the obstacle in their path.


    Elder Zin was still busy engaging the alpha sand wolf. It took every ounce of speed and skill he had to compensate for the sheer difference in size and strength. He didn¡¯t have the focus to spare to think about the children, much less save them. Ade scrabbled in the ground and found a handful of stones he could sling, but he knew it was more of a gesture than anything. He simply didn¡¯t have the strength or the angle of attack to convince the wolves to turn aside.


    Amazingly, he didn¡¯t need to. Having avoided all the people who tried to intervene the wolves had nothing preventing them from simply charging forwards and taking the children down. Yet for some miraculous reason they split and changed direction, some heading left and some right as if to flank an invisible enemy.


    It wasn¡¯t like there was anyone present to cause that effect and Ade could only watch dumbfounded as the wolves continued to travel sideways, kept away from the children by an invisible barrier.


    ¡°The Oasis.¡± He whispered, then louder as it turned into a cheer that was picked up by others. ¡°The Oasis! The Oasis protects!¡±


    The Oasis¡¯ growth was well known by this point, but this barrier it provided was the first action it took that aided the nomads directly. Before the Oasis had been simply alien, now it was benevolent, and the hope that thought provided gave everyone fighting a little more energy to strike harder.


    Crack! The barrier wasn¡¯t perfect. Two of the larger wolves had managed to breach the barrier, and while none of the other sand wolves seemed to be able to follow them Ade knew it didn¡¯t really matter. Two wolves was one wolf more than was needed to slaughter every last child.


    ¡°Joss!¡± One of the younger guards, Jeb, exclaimed. Joss was his younger brother, if Ade remembered correctly. With his brother¡¯s life on the line Jeb moved. It wasn¡¯t as fast or as devastating as Elder Zin¡¯s earlier maneuver, but it was sufficient. Jeb stood there gasping, weakened by the unexpected energy expenditure, his spear embedded in the throat of one of the monsters. Yet he wasn¡¯t finished, couldn¡¯t be finished while the other sand wolf still threatened his family.


    ¡°Me me me me me¡­¡± It was another skill, one used by guards to focus aggression on themselves. The words weren¡¯t necessary but Jeb spoke them anyways, every syllable a show of his willingness to trade his life for the lives of others. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to. A sling bullet whistled through the air to crack the sand wolf¡¯s skull and it slumped to the ground, dead.


    While the other guards distracted the alpha sand wolf, Elder Zin managed to repeat his earlier attack, blurring forward to catch the alpha by surprise. It wasn¡¯t the throat or any other lethal position, but the hamstring that Zin targeted was enough of an injury to make the outcome inevitable. The alpha realized it as well and gave a mournful howl, a signal to retreat that the other sand wolves reluctantly followed, leaving the dead and dying behind.


    It was over.

 Chapter 24: Kairen

    Chapter 24: Kairen


    It was a terrible day for a funeral. The sun was shining, there was a soft breeze from the south, and the sound of children laughing filled the air. Yes, it was a terrible day for a funeral, but fortunately it looked like funerals weren¡¯t a nomad tradition. Kairen watched on in mild bemusement as the nomads marked the loss of one of their own, not with mourning or wailing, but with celebration.


    During the night Bel, one of the guards, had passed away from his injuries. Despite Healer Elan and her assistant doing what they could for him, detecting and curing the internal bleeding was beyond their skills and medicine. Slowly the word went around. One of the tribe had died giving their all for their brothers and sisters. Now it was the tribe¡¯s turn to return the honor.


    The elders slowly made the rounds, taking the time to inform every family and single adult of Bel¡¯s passing. Kairen had been asleep at the time and only found out when he woke up. All regular work had been suspended, and the tribe was organizing a celebration of Bel¡¯s life. They moved with practiced ease. Death was simply part of life in the Shifting Sands, an acknowledgement of the dangerous environment they found themselves in.


    The centerpiece of the event was Bel¡¯s surviving family. He had no children, but his young wife was surrounded by his parents and sisters as they shared the burden of their loss. Dreamwine, pulled from Healer Elan¡¯s tent and poured into the finest cups, was carefully held in trembling hands. Occasional sips of the liquid eased the soul-deep ache and helped memories flow freely. The rest of the tribe mostly went about their work, but whenever the family was left to themselves for a couple of minutes a worker would set aside their platter of food or the stools they were hauling and make their way over.


    Kairen found himself following along, an invisible witness isolated not just by his death but by his culture. Funerals were meant to be somber affairs, a delicate balance of support and distance. Attending a funeral showed the deceased mattered to you, while the family was ignored, left on the sidelines to express their grief freely without worry about propriety. Bel had been just another worker as far as Kairen had known him. By all rights Kairen should have been on the other side of the oasis keeping an eye on the goats until things returned to normal, but he was nonetheless pulled in.


    It helped that the nomads weren¡¯t quiet. One by one they came and shared their stories of Bel, of the impact he had on their lives. They did so loudly and freely, not yelling but letting their stories carry themselves outwards on the wind.


    ¡°He spent an afternoon showing my grandson how to use a sling.¡±


    ¡°I remember when he was only seven or eight, and for three months straight managed to show up at the kitchen every time the sausages were finished cooking. Didn¡¯t matter whether he was supposed to be doing chores or helping out on the other side of the camp. One time the sausages were started late, but he still showed up in the middle of the night to eat the ends and other bits and pieces. Didn¡¯t take long after that to realize he had somehow trained one of the dogs to tell him about the meat in return for a share. We threatened him with dish duty after that and life moved on.¡±


    Some were a bit quieter with their tales, such as one young woman who shyly approached the family.


    ¡°He was my first kiss, did you know? He was a couple of years older than me, and it was the first time I was allowed to stay up and join the dancing. I didn¡¯t think anyone would pick me, but Bel did and even gave me a kiss at the end for letting him step on my toes, even though that was me messing up. He was so good, and I¡¯m so happy that he ended up with you, Mara. Even if¡­¡± She trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes. Mara stepped forwards to embrace her in a hug. ¡°Even then.¡± She said firmly and for a moment the two simply existed, caught up in their shared grief. Then the moment ended and the two broke apart, lighter for the experience.


    ¡°Sara, honey, I¡¯m sure Bel would have stepped on your feet no matter how good of a dancer you were. He was good at many things, but dancing was not one of them.¡± Bel¡¯s mother added her own thoughts on the matter and the good mood was returned, strengthened by the tears that continued to freely flow.


    ¡°Be nice to Bel! Half the time he was messing up on purpose to bump into someone else.¡± A bystander called out.


    ¡°And the other half?¡± Mara played into the banter.


    ¡°He was looking at you, of course!¡± A round of claps and hollers went up as the joke finished.


    Sarah gave Mara one more brief hug. ¡°We did bump into an awful lot of Elders.¡± She mused thoughtfully before shaking her head and giving a small curtsy. ¡°I¡¯ll be off now. Those wolf hearts aren¡¯t going to cook themselves.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the next person to come and fill the void she left, and the stories continued to flow.


    Kairen only paid them half a mind. He had felt like an intruder during the intimate moment and had opened up his screen as a diversion, only to notice that once again he was gaining far more upgrade points than he was supposed to. Something about the wake going on was fueling his growth.


    Kairen had several upgrades he wanted to get, but reluctantly turned his focus elsewhere. Profiting off of another man''s death didn¡¯t feel right to him. The points had to be spent on something, and Kairen looked through his options to see what would serve as a fitting tribute.


    Before he could focus too heavily on that train of thought the blessings caught his eye. Creating a tribute was all well and good, but a better choice would be doing what he could to ensure it wouldn¡¯t happen again. The combat blessing and the endurance blessing both promised to help the nomads with any future monster attacks like the sand wolves. Better fighters would only help the people training to fight, while the endurance blessing would benefit everyone. Of course, the endurance blessing was only partially related to increased fortitude and would only extend as far as Kairen¡¯s borders. It wouldn¡¯t help any of the nomads who left to go on trips to gather resources or go trade elsewhere. It was a tough choice, but in the end Kairen went with the endurance option. Having more energy to train would help the fighters out, while hopefully helping keep any injured people alive until they could heal. The endurance blessing would also provide a benefit not focused on combat, allowing the rest of the tribe to work harder and longer, although Kairen was glad that he didn¡¯t have to deal with children who had even more energy to be a bother.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The rest of the morning Kairen kept his screen open, trying to figure out what exactly caused him to gain upgrade points. The points came in faster when people were sharing their stories, but it wasn¡¯t a consistent amount and it suddenly jumped at other times as well. Noon arrived and Kairen felt like he was close to seeing the connection, that it was just out of reach for his mental capabilities. All he needed was one tiny clue and it would all fall into place.


    The clue didn¡¯t come. Lunch, however, did. While all sorts of dishes had been prepared the centerpiece of the feast was sand wolf. Cooking monster meat required extra time and effort, but it was worth it for the nomads. The feast they made wasn¡¯t simply a meal, but a testament of Bel¡¯s greatest hour. Today the tribe would feast on the flesh of their enemies, boiled, roasted, and grilled.


    The hearts had been cut out and put aside for later, but every other monster part had been rendered down. Sand wolf pelts were placed on the ground where people could walk over them, and the bones had been carved into simple toys for the kids to play with.


    The main entertainment during the meal consisted of the people who had been with Bel during his final hours retelling the tale of his battle over and over, embellishing as they went. The simple story of fleeing for his life from overwhelming monsters gradually transformed into a tale worthy of any ancient hero.


    ¡°Bel had two miners slung over his back while he ran.¡± One miner carried on the tale, only to be interrupted.


    ¡°Only two? I was there and he helped seven of us get back safely.¡±


    ¡°Well his back¡¯s only so big, isn¡¯t it? If you had let me continue, I would have mentioned that he helped save another five of us by throwing us as he went along. Juggling us through the air to keep us away from the sand wolves.¡± The first replied haughtily, before downing his drink.


    ¡°Not just sand wolves, but vipers and scorpions as well! Giant ones, with fangs thicker than my arm. Only reason you didn¡¯t see any of them here is that Bel outran them all and left them to starve in the Sands.¡±


    It took hours for the food to run out and for a tale to be told that couldn¡¯t be topped, but eventually the meal came to an end, as all good things do. By unspoken consensus, the mood turned solemn. Despite the attempts at good cheer, despite the focus on celebration and good memories, Bel was still dead. Only now, with full understanding of who he was and what he had done, could he be laid to rest.


    Elder Arun officiated the short ceremony. Bel¡¯s body lay on the ground in front of him while his fellow guards worked to the side to dig a burial pit. Arun gave them a moment to start their work before speaking.


    ¡°Many years ago, so long ago that we only remember it in stories, the empire that our ancestors built was destroyed. They called themselves the masters of the desert, and the Shifting Sands showed them the foolishness of their arrogance. That was the day we lost everything.


    Though they still breathed, the few left knew they were dead. Only luck had spared them. Death was their only future. They fought that fate, and even though they were eventually overcome by the Sands they had children and grandchildren. They fought and struggled every day of their life and they taught these lessons to their descendants. ¡®Death is expected. Life is the surprise.¡¯


    That is why we celebrate. It is a terrible thing for Bel to die, to be with us no more, but it is even more amazing that he had the time he did. Every day he lived had its own worth. His life had meaning. It is up to us to carry that meaning forwards, to challenge death each day, to make a better life for our children and grandchildren until one day death is once more a surprise.¡±


    Elder Arun stepped back and nodded. Bel¡¯s body was slowly lowered into the ground and dirt was once more shoveled into place.


    ¡°We bury our dead in the desert, under sands that will soon forget their burden. Not Bel. Even in death Bel will help this Oasis grow, will help the tribe in the last way he could. May we prove worthy of his sacrifice.


    For Bel.¡± He ended, and everyone replied. ¡°For Bel.¡±


    Kairen joined in, quietly and unheard. The nomads weren¡¯t his family, weren¡¯t his tribe, but he resonated with their perspective. He was dead and had died in a terrible manner. If his actions now could make the world a better place, could keep one person alive that wouldn¡¯t be otherwise, then everything was worth it. ¡°For Bel. For me.¡±


    Kairen made to follow the dispersing nomads as they made their way back to continue their wake, only to be interrupted by a burning sensation.


    Even though he had only closed his screen for a minute to listen to the eulogy, Kairen found his upgrade pool full to the point of bursting. Remembering the wolves that had broken through to get to the children, he managed to choose to upgrade his defensive barrier before the system could do so for him. One final gift from Bel to keep his tribe safe, Kairen mused, before sitting down to think.


    A feast, sharing stories, and a burial. The three events were so very different from each other, but all had provided him with upgrade points. Kairen also suspected that there were other avenues that upgrade points could be gathered. The great temple of Ing was built around the concept of fertility and creation, and Kairen had heard offhandedly that Ing provided her blessing in return for aspirants dedicating their lovemaking to her. It was only a single unreliable piece of information to work with, but it fit.


    Meaning, or perhaps significance was the fuel that caused Oases to grow. The regular cycle of life and death that was part of nature mattered to some degree, but humans had the ability to attach significance to events and actions far beyond their inherent value. A coyote hunting a rabbit was simply following its nature and earning itself a meal. A human hunting the same rabbit might view the event as their first hunt, or perhaps the rabbit was intended for a special meal or mattered more because the hunter had experienced a dry spell of finding targets.


    The events that had given Kairen a large amount of upgrade points were simply the events that had meant a lot to the people present. Their first feast to celebrate a Pathfinder and the discovery of an Oasis. The memories that made up a life, told to comfort family. A promise uttered over a grave to make the world a better place. The trend also suggested a possible feedback loop could set itself up with a bit of luck. If an event had enough significance to overfill the pool of an Oasis, and the upgrade chosen had a visible effect, then it was possible for the people present to notice and make the connection. Repetition of the act would then have significance not just in and of itself, but the association would add its own meaning as well.


    What might have started as a simple act of love under the stars had grown into a great temple over time, and Kairen wondered just how many other festivals and celebrations had ties to an Oasis and its upgrades? He¡¯d have to be careful in the future to avoid the nomads forming any awkward associations. It wouldn¡¯t do to have everyone think he was honored by laundry day or the like.

 Chapter 25: Ade

    The sand wolves had taught Ade a valuable lesson. It didn¡¯t matter how skilled you were. It didn¡¯t matter how careful you were or how many precautions you took. Bad luck was always a possibility, and sometimes the worst would happen. Despite Ade¡¯s best efforts to keep everyone safe a man had died following him on the path he chose. Nothing Ade did or said going into the future would change that fact.


    No one worked after the funeral, but Ade asked for and received three days off after that, time that he could simply spend by himself thinking. Being around the tribe was difficult. Some people held more respect for him than they had previously. They recognized the precautions he had taken to avoid monster attacks, and the effort he had put in to get everyone back to safety. To them, Ade was a hero and the only reason the entire mining expedition wasn¡¯t lying dead in the middle of the Sands. Their awe and respect were difficult to handle, but it was at least familiar to Ade. What truly hurt were the looks of disappointment.


    Those looks mostly came from the nomads who had been close to Bel. The tribe was too close knit for them to hate Ade outright for his role in Bel¡¯s death, but their ideal of Ade as the best pathfinder of his generation had taken a large hit. They didn¡¯t say anything to Ade directly, but there were enough people who had grown disillusioned that Ade overhead enough whispered discussions to gather a pretty good picture of what they thought.


    ¡°His grandfather wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡±


    ¡°...The others haven¡¯t lost anyone ¡­¡±


    ¡°Bel deserved better...¡±


    The last thought especially hurt. It was one Ade completely agreed with, and often thought of when he was by himself with no distractions to keep his mind happy.


    More than once he had woken up during the middle of the night, terrorized awake by the feeling of monsters stalking him from just out of sight. Other times the nightmares were more blatant; the sand wolves killing everyone he cared for with impunity, impervious to his attacks or pathfinding ability.


    As a result of all those factors Ade threw himself into his training. For the first time in years, he began to work on his slinging skills, focusing on his accuracy and his power in particular. When his arm was too sore to continue hurling rocks, Ade left the oasis, crossing over into the edge of the Shifting Sands where he could refine his pathfinding capability. This practice wasn¡¯t focused on any one area in particular, but was a time where Ade explored a hundred half formed ideas and strategies. He worked on the speed he could find Paths. He worked on his sensitivity to the information his sense gave him. He worked on his Path visualization, focusing on his ability to both find and avoid monsters. Most of what he tried was useless, resulting in either outright failure or simply showing no sign of improvement of his Ade¡¯s Pathfinding skill. For every twenty failures there was only one partial success, but that was enough to drive Ade onwards. What he was working on might only improve his abilities a little, but sometimes that small difference was all that was needed. Every partial solution that Ade found soothed one of the many ¡®if onlys¡¯ he had crafted in his mind. He couldn¡¯t guarantee that monsters would never surprise his party again, but at least he would be able to say he had done all he could, both before and during any such hypothetical attack.


    Finally, Ade reached a point where he had run out of ideas to try. The other Pathfinders had taken over his duties and had done a fine job of ensuring that everyone had access to the critical resources they needed, but there were many more prizes out in the Sands that could be found and brought back.


    Ade did his best to make it clear from the start what the risks of his expedition were. Cowering from the Dangers of the Sands was no guarantee of safety, and Ade was done seeing it as such. While he wasn¡¯t about to dive straight into the most dangerous depths, he was more than willing to go a little deeper in where the more valuable plants and resources could be found.


    More than a few people changed their mind about joining him after he laid out his strategy. Mostly it was those with families, especially those with young children, who had more to lose if something went wrong. Ade didn¡¯t blame them for their caution. Everyone had their own priorities, their own determination of how they balanced risk and reward. Ade wanted everyone who joined him to do so of their own free will, with a clear understanding of what they were risking so that there would be no regrets.


    For every person who changed their mind or wasn¡¯t interested in heading out in the first place, there was another nomad that was eager to join Ade. Elder Arun¡¯s speech had inspired them. They were eager to challenge themselves, to push their limits, to grow and to help the tribe grow, and Ade¡¯s expedition seemed to them the perfect way to do so. By the end of his recruiting session Ade had begun turning applicants away. While a larger expedition would be better equipped to gather resources and combat monsters, it would also be more likely to encounter monsters in the first place and would weigh more heavily on Ade and his ability to guide them around the Sands. Fortunately, everyone seemed to take his explanation in good humor, satisfied with promises to be the first to be considered for a future journey.


    Finally, one whole week after the disaster, Ade set out once more. The group of twenty men and women following him would require him to put a large amount of focus into Pathfinding, but Ade wanted that pressure to improve. He was comforted by the fact that his objective for the day wasn¡¯t anything complex or difficult to find. All he had to do was find some plants.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    While large portions of the Shifting Sands were composed of large sand dunes, deserts in all their variety were represented. From salt flats to sandstone ravines shaped by the wind, from rocky scree to an endless beach covered in broken shells with no ocean in sight, there were all sorts of unique biomes hidden just around the curve of the next dune. Life was sparse in the Sands, but it was present, and given the right circumstances would bloom in displays that any rainforest would envy. Most plants simply didn¡¯t do so often, requiring large amounts of water to grow, amounts they could only absorb during the infrequent downpour that appeared overhead. While such plants were normally limited by their natural supply of water and weren¡¯t worth cultivating manually due to the sheer quantity of that valuable resource they needed, the tribe didn¡¯t have to worry about that problem. The Oasis provided them with a practically infinite supply of water, far more than they needed for their own cleaning and drinking purposes. Other factors would still limit any farming operation they created but growing their own crops would simultaneously give the tribe something to busy themselves with, would improve their quality of life, and would tie them more firmly to the Oasis.


    The mood was tense as the group travelled. With a recent reminder of the dangers present in the Shifting Sands everyone kept their eyes peeled for the slightest sign of a monster or natural disaster in the making. Small talk was kept to a minimum, and everyone pushed themselves to march a bit faster than they would have normally. It was almost a relief when the party saw a small group of rock elementals trundling towards them.


    Only four feet tall, the rock elementals were smaller representatives of their species and didn¡¯t pose much of a threat to the group of heavily armed nomads. Even knowing the advantages were in their favor, the guards approached the monsters carefully.


    ¡°Call out targets!¡± The head guard took command of the situation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll focus on the left one.¡±


    ¡°Sandy one in the middle is mine. You two are with me.¡±


    ¡°Guess that leaves the right two. Jon and Marnie cover the far right, the rest take the last one.¡±


    The rock elementals were slow and predictable. With the guards able to focus on a single target they easily avoided the heavy swings the monsters threw out. Unfortunately, the rocky defenses were as strong as their offense was weak.


    ¡°Damn.¡± One of the guards swore. ¡°I think I¡¯m doing more damage to my sword than the monster. Any ideas, boss?¡±


    ¡°Grab some rope, the good stuff. If we can lock the rocks up, we can hopefully target weak spots or get some stronger hits in. Marnie seems to be making some progress with her war hammer, so we do have one weapon that¡¯s effective at least.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long for the guard to return with the requested rope, as well as a couple of mining picks. Loop after loop was thrown over the rock elementals, where it was kept loose for the moment.


    ¡°Now!¡± The signal went out and everyone helped pull the ropes tight, guards and workers alike. The elementals might have been able to overpower a single rope, but the multitude around them limited their movement to ineffective struggles. Breaking the monsters into pieces after that was a chore, one the workers were happy to do while the guards kept an eye out for any other threats. Staying in one spot in the Sands was practically an invitation for something to come along and find you, and the workers¡¯ picks flew, quickly rendering the rock elementals down into piles of rubble. The few pieces of magical stone were quickly picked out and put into packs, and Ade led the group onwards once more.


    The skirmish, however brief and one-sided, had done wonders for morale. The threats that faced the tribe had not diminished at all, but the fight had been a reminder that the nomads had their own abilities and preparations that they should have confidence in. They weren¡¯t heading out into the Sands naked like a convicted criminal but were ready for most things the desert might throw their way.


    Not long after that the dunes gave way to a rough, rocky plain. Ade could make out dunes surrounding the area in the distance, but there were plenty of plants and animals to be gathered. Unfortunately, none of the tribesmen present had any experience with navigating the rocky terrain, and their search for the plants they were interested in boiled down to walking along and picking any plants that seemed interesting, as opposed to directly heading from one point of interest to another.


    The guards weren¡¯t idle and kept themselves busy and combat ready by hunting the various animals they passed by. Slowly the two camels that were brought along became loaded down with dead animals and carefully extracted plants. The rarest specimens were carried by hand, but there were plenty of five-day beans, shade drinkers, and other semi-magical plants that were gathered as they searched the area.


    It was easy to get engaged in the simple work and time flew by. Soon it was time to head back if Ade and the rest wanted to make it home before dark. A couple people suggested spending the night in the area, giving themselves more time to harvest before heading home, but the heavily burdened camels provided an ample counterpoint. They had collected enough samples for the moment. They could always return once they had an idea of what was easy to cultivate and what plants simply weren¡¯t worth the effort even with a magical Oasis available.


    The trip back to the Oasis was uneventful, if longer than expected. Twenty people was simply too large of a group and despite his best efforts Ade found his focus slipping away towards the end of the journey. He always managed to regain the path, but the small delays added up, and the sun had set by the time everyone staggered into camp.


    Leftovers from the dinner were quickly handed over to the tired workers, and several children were put into service carrying the dead animals and plants to different storehouses. One of the night guards was even stationed in front of the plant storage area. It wouldn''t do for all that work to be wasted because a goat or other herbivore decided it had expensive tastes.


    Ade didn¡¯t notice any of that. Once he had arrived back at camp he had trudged straight to his bed and had fallen asleep, the mental stress of the day taking its toll. For the first time in a week, he slept soundly. Perhaps it was simply that he was too tired to dream, but far more likely was the peace he had found in leading a successful mission without losing anyone.

 Chapter 26: Kairen

    Farming the magical desert plants hadn¡¯t been a smooth or simple process. Kairen had watched on with curious interest that morning as the nomads marked off a section of soil in the Oasis to begin transplanting the plants their Pathfinder had retrieved. The soil was moist enough to break apart easily and it didn¡¯t take long at all to dig rows of shallow holes. Compared to the dry sand outside the Oasis it was a haven for plants. Kairen had grown up in a mining settlement, but his mother and some of the neighbors had put in the effort to cultivate small gardens. Tilling the soil to mix in fertilizer had been a loathed chore for him and his siblings and even with constant attention only hardy plants were able to be grown. Agave, aloe vera, and various cacti had grown in the spindly shade of a scraggly olive tree behind his house. One affluent neighbor had invested in a fertilizer potion and had been able to coax beans and peanuts to grow in their garden, so Kairen was somewhat aware of just how much soil composition mattered when growing plants. His brief experience with gardening didn¡¯t warn him that it was possible for soil to be too rich for certain plants, and he was just as surprised as anyone else when the new crops began to die.


    With regular plants the farmers would have had days or weeks to notice problems appearing and to take steps to correct the underlying cause. Several factors present in the Oasis worked to accelerate this timescale to the point the nomads could only watch helplessly. All of the plants the tribe was attempting to cultivate were native to the desert and had evolved to take as much advantage as possible of the infrequent rainstorms that appeared. These plants did not have a leisurely period of months to gather water and nutrients to grow but had hours after a storm before the dry air, baking sun, and porous soil stole away their precious source of water. Given the right conditions explosive growth would occur, as the plants grew from seeds to saplings to maturity practically overnight.


    Even with such a short period of growth an experienced farmer would still be able to head off problems before they became serious, but the nomads were not farmers. Their healer cultivated some useful herbs in small pots, but no one working with these plants was familiar with either the needs of the plants or the characteristics of the soil. The few warning signs shown were completely ignored, and it was only when the plants began to wilt, lose their leaves, or simply burst like bubbles that the farmers realized something was wrong.


    Despite their inexperience the nomads weren¡¯t stupid, and their autopsy of the various plants revealed three distinct problems that affected the different species present to differing degrees. The most common problem was that of water. Simply being close to the oasis ensured that the soil was saturated with water, ensuring the plants growing there didn¡¯t have to rely on rain or manual irrigation to meet their needs. For plants used to desert conditions, it was simply too much of a good thing.


    The five-day beans had the best reaction to the surplus water. They simply burned through all their stored nutrients creating as many roots as possible to absorb the life-giving liquid. They simply didn¡¯t have an inbuilt mechanism to stop and continued to expand their root network as long as water was present, even at the cost of starving the rest of the plant to death. The cacti had a similar problem, where they continued to absorb and store water to the point that their internal structure was ruptured, killing the plants.


    Mineral crystals on the edges of the salt leaf that had been planted was the clue needed to recognize the second problem. Salt leaf was known for its ability to filter minerals out of the ground around it and then excreting useless salts onto old leaves, but all the plants in the desert had similar magic to some degree or another. It allowed them to eke out an existence in terrain that would kill off other species. The excess magic present in the wilds allowed them to efficiently gather the resources they needed without expending too much biological energy in the process. The downside was that when placed in soil that had large quantities of those usually rare minerals the plant would poison itself by absorbing too much.


    The final cause of farming failure was the soil itself. The rich dark soil was simply too different from the rocky sand that most desert species were accustomed to. A couple of species reacted to their first watering by digging roots downwards, looking to anchor themselves firmly given the loose nature of sand. Even though the dirt around them was more firmly attached it was simply too fine to be tangled up in the probing mass of roots that pushed downwards. Much like the five-day beans, these species focused too much on avoiding disasters that were not going to happen. Even though the plants managed to stay alive, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to farm them if they never put the energy into growing properly.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The surviving plants along with some spares from the storage huts were then carried outside the oasis. Kairen was unable to follow them the entire way, but their chosen location was close enough to their camp that he could watch.


    ¡°Five-day beans only, let¡¯s see how this works before we risk any of the other plants.¡± Elder Gomer directed.


    ¡°Easy enough. Would you like to do the honors?¡± A tribesman responded, gesturing at the large jug of water that had been repurposed as a crude watering device. Holes punched high in its side allowed it to roughly simulate rainfall while giving the people using it a little more control over how much water was poured.


    ¡°I can hardly lift the thing, let alone pour out water easily.¡± Gomer demurred. ¡°I¡¯ll be quite happy just standing here watching how it goes.¡±


    Water was poured on the thirsty plants, and it didn¡¯t take long for them to begin to grow. Unlike last time energy was being put into growing additional vines and leaves. Soon the jug was empty, and the plants were still alive, happily working to produce beans that would be ready to harvest in five days. The quick turnaround time was a great benefit of the plant, even if the beans themselves didn¡¯t have much flavor. While the beans would be useful, at the moment the five-day beans had served their purpose as test subjects, and soon additional rows were being marked out, holes were dug, and a second farm was underway.


    It quickly became apparent that the limiting factor of the farm was watering the crops. All the plants needed large amounts of water to trigger their growth phase. They simply wouldn¡¯t sprout unless there was enough water present to ensure that they could grow to maturity. Unfortunately, that meant that it took a large number of trips to fill up the watering jugs from the pool, and there were only so many jugs available to be repurposed.


    The spare manpower was put to use helping to solve the watering problem. Shovels and picks were put to use digging a shallow trench to bring water from the pool closer to the new farm. Wanting to encourage their efforts at development, Kairen used the points he had gained over the last week to buy another level of his pool size upgrade.


    Kairen was still somewhat concerned that eventually he would be unable to upgrade his size further without sinking buildings that the nomads had been put up, but watching the latest expansion of his pool eased those concerns slightly. Each upgrade seemed to be providing a smaller increase to his size. Combined with the increasing cost and the corresponding time it would take to buy the upgrades, Kairen figured he would reach a stable equilibrium before he sunk anything too important. The visible change in size seemed to be taken as a good sign by the nomads, and they worked harder, flying through the dirt as they shoveled it aside. Instead of stopping once they hit sand as Kairen had though they continued onwards, digging a narrow trench between two rows of plants, before heading back to connect the pond to the trench.


    There were a couple of areas where the water pooled, but the sheer size of the oasis and the fact that it was generating water out of nowhere meant that it didn¡¯t take long for the trench to fill up fully, the water smoothly flowing along towards the farm.


    Some water was lost when it hit the desert as it started to seep downwards, but there was plenty of pressure to keep the water moving forwards. Just as the nomads started celebrating successfully saving themselves a lot of work, things went wrong.


    The five-day beans were closest to the irrigation trench, and it didn¡¯t take them long to capitalize on their position. Roots quickly appeared on the bottom of the sandy stream, before growing upwards and thickening. Minutes after the water had started flowing it was blocked off by thick walls of roots, and the five-day beans had once again killed themselves.


    ¡°Blast it all. It just couldn¡¯t be that easy, could it.¡± One worker swore.


    ¡°I suppose that helps explain why none of the cities have tried this.¡± Elder Gomer mused thoughtfully. ¡°It can still be worked around, so there¡¯s probably some other surprises we¡¯ll find out about along the way to make things difficult.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your insight, Elder. Next time can you try having it before we spend all day digging a trench?¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Elder Gomer barked at the bitter humor. ¡°No promises, but I¡¯ll do my best. It¡¯s not like all our work was wasted. Even if we can¡¯t direct water directly to the plants, your work means a far shorter distance to carry the watering jugs. Best get to it, there are still a lot of plants left that need their fill.¡±


    With the excitement done for the day, Kairen wandered aimlessly around the Oasis. The children were receiving another history lesson and instead of listening in Kairen found himself watching the goats. It didn¡¯t matter what plants appeared in their path the goats calmly ate it all with the same half-lidded stare on their face. Even the remains of the first farming attempt weren¡¯t spared. Without even blinking a goat began munching on the five-day bean cluster. Kairen tried a nibble, only to find that it was horribly bitter, and decided to stick to enjoying the food that was left out for him.


    Before he could make his way to wash out the taste and see if there was anything new, his attention was caught by movement near the ground. It was a desert rat and was frozen in place, a chunk of root carried in its teeth. Kairen looked around to see what had caused the strange reaction, only to see nothing. He knelt down to take a closer look, only to have the rat flinch away from him.


    It could see him.

 Chapter 27: Kairen

    Kairen blinked.


    The rat blinked, still cautiously watching the ghost.


    Slowly, carefully, Kairen knelt and reached out his hand. Just because he couldn¡¯t see his hand didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t there. Barely daring to hope, he relied on his remaining proprioception to position it over the rodent before cautiously moving it downwards. The desert rat flicked its gaze upwards for a moment to where the ghostly hand was before returning its gaze to Kairen himself. It remained calmly passive, not fleeing or attacking or any other course of action that would have torn at the boy¡¯s strained psyche.


    Soft. Being able to see, hear, and taste had helped Kairen ignore just how much he missed having a sense of touch. Now he had a fraction of it back, and all he could do was marvel at the sensation. Over and over he stroked the soft fur, doing his best to avoid rubbing it the wrong way. The desert rat noticed his actions and seemed receptive of the contact, arching its back to press more of its fur against Kairen¡¯s hand. Grinning at the implicit approval, Kairen pressed a little harder, marvelling at the way he could see the fur dimpling as he moved, even if his actual hand remained transparent.


    ¡°What makes you different?¡± He murmured. The rat heard him and snapped out of its blissful enjoyment of the petting, focusing in on Kairen¡¯s face.


    ¡°You can hear me and see me, I¡¯m sure of it now. But why you and not any of the other animals or the people here? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m very happy that you can see me. I just wish you were a bit more human.¡± Kairen finished somewhat awkwardly. The rat didn¡¯t seem to mind his awkward explanation and merely squeaked in response. Kairen waited a second, but it didn¡¯t seem like the rat was about to communicate any more than that simple sound of acknowledgement.


    ¡°Not much of a conversationalist, huh? I always wanted a pet, but it would be nice if you could answer my questions or help me out in some way. There is just so much I don¡¯t know. How can you see me? What do I look like? Can anyone else learn to see me? Do all Oases have these weird windows, and if not, then why me?¡± Kairen picked up energy as he talked, happy to have someone who could hear him, even if they couldn¡¯t respond. He looked down at the rat, only to see it staring at him impassively. He realized he had started using his hands to gesture towards the end of his rant and quickly moved to resume petting the rodent.


    ¡°Sorry. You don¡¯t need to answer any of those questions, especially the last ones. Someone probably has the answers for me though. It makes too much sense to be perfectly natural, so someone probably put it in place, but why and how?¡±


    Kairen finished speaking and took a moment to shift positions, sitting down on the grass to make himself more comfortable. He then just enjoyed the feeling of petting soft fur for a minute, before a thought entered his mind.


    ¡°I¡¯d better let you get going. It¡¯s not safe for you out in the open, and I¡¯m guessing you need to get that food back to your nest. In the future you should try and grab some of the shadeleaf from there, instead of the five-day bean. Definitely tastes better, and probably is healthier for you as well.¡± Any further thoughts Kairen might have had on the matter were cut short when the desert rat began to move. Instead of picking up the root it had been carrying it returned to the farm patch, where it grubbed around in the dirt for a bit before finding a relatively intact shadeleaf plant.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Kairen watched as the rodent quickly scurried away. The ghost¡¯s greater size made it easy to keep up with the smaller mammal and it didn¡¯t take long for the pair to arrive at a slightly raised burrow in the ground. With one last look at the boy, the rat vanished underground. Everything had changed so much since Kairen had formed the Oasis, but he was fairly sure this was the area that his original body had been located. More than any actual sense of direction telling him so, it simply made sense. Something needed to differentiate this rat from all the other animals that hadn¡¯t given Kairen a second thought, and eating his body certainly was strange enough.


    ¡°Hehehe. I wonder, does the rat think I¡¯m some sort of god? I fed him with my body, reshaped the world around him into a paradise, gave him my blessings, and now I¡¯ve appeared in front of him to give him advice, letting him see my mysterious form.¡± Kairen spent a while rolling the comparison around in his mind. He didn¡¯t really know a whole lot about the spiritual side of things, only what he picked up from his father¡¯s swearing and his mother¡¯s occasional prayers for patience.


    ¡°On one hand, I¡¯ve done more for him than most gods have ever done for anyone. On the other hand, I have a really small domain for a god, and not a lot that I can do with it. For now, anyways.¡± The screen promised that Kairen¡¯s size and power would increase over time. It might be a slow process, but nothing he had seen so far promised a limit to his ability, and there were still the next tiers of upgrades that were still hidden. Now Kairen had another path to move forwards on. His ability to shape the Oasis was powerful, but it was also passive. An upgrade every few days or every week that most people didn''t even notice might add up over time, but it wasn¡¯t something Kairen could use whenever he pleased. He was forced to wait until he had enough upgrade points and forced to choose when he reached his maximum. Between those two restrictions his growth was forced, even if he could guide it to a degree.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    It took him only a second to pull up the status window. His pool of upgrade points was low at the moment due to his upgrade to the pool size, and the nomads turned villagers hadn¡¯t done anything particularly significant to reward him with points beyond his regular income. He supposed that their creation of the farm would have had some impact, except for the fact that it was situated outside his boundaries. Beyond confirming that he hadn¡¯t gained points unexpectedly, Kairen¡¯s objective was to double check the information present. Upon not seeing anything new, Kairen flashed a brief smirk.


    He had feared for a moment that his connection with the rat was something the windows would monitor. If that had been the case, it would have meant that some of the same restrictions present for his other abilities might have applied to whatever let the rat see him, or it might have cost him his precious upgrade points to try and improve the connection. While having a guaranteed method of improvement could have been useful, Kairen didn¡¯t think it was worth the loss of control. This rat was all his, and he wasn¡¯t beholden to anyone with how he interacted with it. Simply keeping it as a companion had its appeal, but Kairen had more ambitions than just that.


    The rat had been able to understand him when he had pointed out the better roots to gather. Maybe it had understood his words, or perhaps the concept had been conveyed in some other manner, but it was a sign that the rat might be willing or could be trained to follow Kairen¡¯s commands. He might not be able to interact with the world directly, but with the rat as his emissary he might be able to convey some crude messages to the nomads about his situation and his intentions.


    The only problem with his plan was the nature of his new pet. Rats were not well liked by most humans. They were intelligent, but their small size and omnivorous burrowing nature put them in a position where that intelligence was pitted against humanity. From sneaking into storehouses to figuring out how to unlatch locked rooms, rats were far more of a nuisance than they were a benefit to any community. Some were kept as pets, but even then they weren¡¯t tame like dogs, cats, or beasts of burden were. They simply recognized the luxuries of their situation and had no desire to head elsewhere.


    If Kairen had his rat start running around the Oasis doing errands for him it wouldn¡¯t take long for the nomads to notice. Unless Kairen got extremely lucky with his ability to purchase upgrades at the right moment, it was likely the tribe would simply see the rat as another pest to be killed. As much as he desired human interaction, he wasn¡¯t about to risk his new friend without putting a lot of thought into planning things out.


    He noticed that the rat was carefully making its way out of the burrow, only this time it wasn¡¯t alone. Carried gently in its front paws was a baby rat, still completely hairless and with its eyes tightly closed. From what Kairen knew this little baby should have still been inside, presumably where its mother and siblings were. But for some reason the father had brought its offspring out into the open for Kairen to see.


    ¡°Do you want me to do something?¡± Kairen hesitantly asked. Whatever intelligence the rat had didn¡¯t let it answer the question; it simply remained still. Carefully Kairen reached out with just a finger, delicately making contact with the bare skin and hoping that he didn¡¯t accidentally harm the thing. A part of him knew that a family of rats would soon turn into an entire colony, something which might cause problems for the nomads. Looking at the innocent creature in front of him he couldn¡¯t bring himself to care. None of these rats had done anything wrong, and in some ways they had a better claim to the Oasis than the humans did.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have any blessings or power I can give him, but I can give him a name. Not that I¡¯m any good at names, so I¡¯m just gonna use the alphabet. That would make you and Missus Rat Alpha and Beta, and this little one will be called Gamma.¡± Kairen babbled a bit to fill the air. He wasn¡¯t sure how much of that the newly christened Alpha had understood, but the rat seemed satisfied. With a maneuver that looked almost like a bow the rat hunched over, returning to a position that it could move around in and vanished back into his home.


    Alpha quickly returned, and over the next few minutes Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, and Theta were all given names and a brief moment of contact. Beta never made an appearance, and Kairen figured she was still recovering from giving birth. Dusk had fallen over the desert by the time the impromptu ceremony had finished, and Kairen noticed Alpha had begun twitching nervously, as if he had excess energy he wanted to get rid of.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m guessing you still have to go get more food to feed your family. Don¡¯t stop on my account, I¡¯ll be back later to check in on you. Stay safe until then.¡± Kairen bid the rodents farewell. The nomads had scared away most of the foxes and other predators, but night time was a chance for all sorts of species to approach the pool while the humans slept. Kairen wished there was more he could do to protect Alpha, but until he could interact with more things than just the rat family his options on that front were limited. Still, the rat had survived this long, so Kairen had faith that his unusual intelligence would keep him alive.


    With the burden of isolation partially lifted, Kairen made his way into the pool. The stars overhead were especially clear tonight and reminded of his first night in the desert Kairen took some time to simply stargaze. Seeing a shooting star, he made a single tiny wish before he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

 Chapter 28: Kairen

    It took a few days before Kairen saw Alpha again. The key detail that the boy had forgotten was that desert rats were mostly nocturnal. The rats were asleep during the heat of the day, and only came out to gather food once evening and cooler weather arrived. Evening was also the time that the nomads tended to socialize, and more often than not Kairen found himself sitting nearby when they did so, absorbing the stories and the atmosphere even if he couldn¡¯t participate directly.


    It was one such evening that he noticed a small figure making its way over to where he was sitting on the outskirts. He had tried finding somewhere closer in to listen from, but the closer he got the more likely it became that someone would pass through the space he occupied. It didn¡¯t hurt him, but it was still a disconcerting experience, and Kairen preferred to avoid it altogether by staying towards the back of any gathering.


    The sun had already set, and torches and a central fire provided illumination as a few musicians played dancing songs on their instruments for the rest of the tribe to enjoy. Most people were content to simply sit and clap along, but there was a steady stream of couples making their way to the center of the gathering to dance, accompanied by a few individuals who took turns sharing and teaching various intricate moves that they had learned over the years. It was all great fun, and it took a few minutes for Kairen to pull his attention away from the spectacle, only to see the small rat next to him, sitting upright on its rear paws and staring at him inquisitively.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Kairen hissed. Even though he knew the nomads couldn¡¯t hear him even when he yelled, it was the principle of the matter. If you wanted to avoid attention you kept your voice quiet, and Kairen really didn¡¯t want any nomad looking in this general direction. The shadows cast by the flames meant they would have a hard time making anything out, but all it would take is a glimpse of a rat and the hunt would be on.


    ¡°Go! Shoo! Find some food elsewhere!¡± Kairen urged the rat to move, but it simply cocked its head inquisitively. ¡°I thought you were smart, Alpha. Staying here means you¡¯ll die, and then they will hunt down and kill your family. I don¡¯t want that to happen, not to you.¡± Still the rat remained in place.


    Grudgingly, Kairen got to his feet. Hopefully the rat would be fascinated enough to follow him elsewhere, instead of exploring the camp further. Why couldn¡¯t Alpha have been a turtle, or a sheep? Something slow and stupid that wouldn¡¯t go sticking its nose into trouble. Not a sheep then. Kairen corrected himself. A sand tortoise would have been perfect though. Slow, long lived, with very few predators capable of hunting it with its shell and natural camouflage. Instead, he had a rat that was too smart for its own good, too stupid to know better, and whose only survival mechanism was to produce more offspring than the number of rats who died doing stupid things.


    Unaware of Kairen¡¯s insulting thoughts, Alpha eagerly followed along as Kairen made his way out of the camp and back into the rest of the Oasis. Once Kairen was sure he was far enough away for the rat to be safe from immediate discovery, he stopped and thought through his options. His first instinct was to take Alpha to his altar and let him know about the source of food there, but he wasn¡¯t sure that that was the smartest idea, long term. The altar promised to be a source of food that no one cared about, with enough variety, flavor, and nutrients to keep the rat satisfied, but it was also out in the open, and prone to people visiting at strange hours. If people left the altar alone at night it would have been fine, but night guards, insomniacs, people who just woke up from nightmares and a few stranger folk all occasionally showed up to drop things off even when it was pitch black, and they did so using torches or lanterns to reveal the area.


    Kairen looked over at the failed farm, only to see that it was practically overrun with goats and camels. The herbivores weren¡¯t aggressive, but the sheer difference in size between them and a small rat meant they didn¡¯t have to be. All it would take would be a defensive bite or stomp and Alpha would die. That didn¡¯t even go into the difficulty Alpha would have in trying to find anything worth bringing back to his nest. Slowed down by a burden and moving tasty food around was simply asking for it to be eaten right then and there by a hungry giant.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Kairen thought he remembered that rats could eat insects, but Alpha didn¡¯t seem interested when he led him to the ant nests he was aware of, and there weren¡¯t any other large colonies readily available. Almost Kairen looked over at the storehouses the tribes had built, before turning his gaze away. Alpha would figure out about those and find a way in soon enough even without Kairen encouraging him to do so.


    A quick check of his status screen confirmed that upgrading the plant life variety was still out of reach, and that it would take another couple of days before he could afford it. It was a possible long-term solution towards keeping Alpha fed, but not one that helped him right now. Out of easy ideas, Kairen sat down to think, reaching out his hand to pet Alpha while he did so.


    As he thought, he realized there was one other source of edible plants, something he had forgotten about at first because it had seemed silly at the time. The children, seeing the adults hard at work taking care of various plants, had become enamored with the novelty of the idea. They knew of farming, of course, but they had never really stayed in one spot long enough for it to be something feasible to try. With plenty of water, a good source of dirt, and the imagination that only kids have a second farm was created. The kids had just as little experience with farming as their parents, and a lot less worldly knowledge and common sense to compensate. They were capable of replicating the motions that the adults were doing, but they lacked the deeper understanding of why those actions were necessary and didn¡¯t really care to find out. They were having enough fun pretending to be farmers without trying to make it actual work. Digging holes in the ground was always fun, as was pouring water on top to make mud. Then it was simply a matter of splashing around in the mud and submerging different plants.


    Most of what the children planted was handfuls of grass pulled out of the nearby soil, but some kids had more ambitious plans. Vegetable seeds and scraps were easy enough to come by from the kitchen with a little begging, and one bold rascal even attempted to plant a shadeleaf. His precious magical plant was quickly retrieved by a nearby adult, leaving him with only a short scolding and the admiration of the other kids at his audacity.


    Kairen didn¡¯t care too much about that, as he stood up and motioned for Alpha to follow him. While he figured that some of the plants would grow, most wouldn¡¯t, some weren¡¯t properly buried, some seeds were simply stems of grass with nothing to germinate, and some wouldn¡¯t receive the tender care needed to flourish. Kairen was happy to let the successful plants prosper, what he was interested in were the vegetable pieces.


    Even in the dark the torn-up soil was easily visible and Kairen picked his way over to a shallower section of the garden. It didn¡¯t take him long to spot what he was looking for, and he pointed out a chunk of carrot to alpha. It was still in good condition for the moment, but the carrot lacked the leafy top needed to regrow anything. As such Kairen had no qualms whatsoever at setting a rat on the children¡¯s work.


    Alpha picked up the piece of carrot and made to head back to his burrow immediately, but he stopped when Kairen called for him.


    ¡°Alpha. There¡¯s more buried over here, just beneath the surface.¡± Kairen pointed to a raised lump he figured just barely covered another piece of vegetable. To his surprise Alpha actually dropped his load, moving over to where Kairen was pointing before carefully sniffing the air with his whiskers twitching. Satisfied with whatever information he received the rat began to dig. He worked quickly, but he was only a small creature and it took him a bit to unearth the chunk of cooked cabbage, snuck away from the plate of a picky eater. Some dirt still clung to it, but Alpha didn¡¯t seem to mind. The chunk of cabbage was much larger than the carrot had been, and Alpha had to resort to dragging it along as he returned home. Kairen kept pace alongside him, keeping an eye out for any predators who might have their sights on Alpha so he could provide a moment¡¯s warning for his friend.

 Chapter 29: Ade

    Was not having a routine a routine in and of itself? Ade wondered as he trudged towards a white patch of sand. The last month had kept him busy with constant trips out into the Sands. More plants to replace the ones that had been destroyed and to expand the slowly growing garden was his primary objective, but there were plenty of other requests for specific areas to find and retrieve resources from. Today¡¯s trip was focused on gathering salt. Very few plants could grow on a salt flat, and those that did weren¡¯t useful, so this particular need had been pushed back time and time again. Most other needs were met at this point, and even with rationing the tribe''s salt reserve was almost empty. The salt brought back would help flavor the daily meals, but it would also be put to use making salted meat and pickled vegetables. Not only would those dishes add variety to the nomads¡¯ diet, but they would also help extend the food supply by preserving fresh vegetables or hunted meat that would otherwise go to waste, or at least the goats.


    There were multiple types of salt that could be found out in the desert, only a couple of which were edible. The others had uses in alchemy and smithing, and Ade took a couple of samples from each location before heading elsewhere to find the pure white salt that was so useful in the kitchen.


    ¡°Remember to weigh your bag occasionally.¡± Ade allied out once his team arrived at the salt flat and confirmed that it was the mineral they were looking for. ¡°It doesn¡¯t do anyone any good if you make your pack too heavy. The camels will help, but we¡¯re all going to be carrying our share back to camp.


    ¡°Yes, Mother.¡± One of the younger workers cheekily responded, before pulling out a shovel from his pack and going to work, breaking off large chunks from the ground that could be easily carried over and loaded into the saddlebags.


    ¡°Keep an extra eye out.¡± Ade warned the guards. ¡°My Path sense is fluctuating a bit. Don¡¯t know quite what that means, but it probably isn¡¯t anything good. Hopefully it¡¯s happening elsewhere and is gone by the time we¡¯re ready to head back.


    The guards nodded but didn¡¯t look convinced. The deeper expeditions often ran into monsters. Ade did his best to avoid diving too deep and drawing the attention of something too strong for the group to fend off or run from, but everyone knew they were playing the game of chance with much thinner odds than previously. Ade had had a couple people stay at camp or switch to following one of the other pathfinders, but most had stayed with him each and every time he ventured out, and any empty spots were quickly filled by the nomads he had turned away at first.


    The threat of monsters pushed everyone to work quickly, and soon all the bags were filled and the camels were loaded up. There was a bit more sand mixed in with the salt than would be acceptable if the tribe were gathering it to sell, but a little bit of grit wouldn¡¯t kill anyone, and anyone who complained could always be pointed towards the Sands and told to do better.


    Ade¡¯s sense wasn¡¯t completely useless, as the warning it provided helped the guards spot the serpents ahead of them before drawing too close. Two titanic snakes both large enough to kill and eat a camel were writhing around each other, biting and hissing.


    ¡°Are they fucking or fighting?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with fighting. Means there will soon be one less monster in the world, and I really don¡¯t want to think about the other option.¡± Was the quick response and was followed by a wave of quiet agreement. Carefully the team backed away, before picking their way carefully around the titans, keeping a hand on their weapons just in case the worst-case scenario came to pass.


    It wasn¡¯t until the sounds of struggle had faded into the distance and Ade had done his best to erase their trail that the party relaxed a bit. There was still the risk of another encounter with monsters, but with their trail secured and with every step leading out of the Sands there was a general air of confidence that they had once again gambled against the Sands and won. The risks they had taken wouldn¡¯t kill them this time.


    It helped that there were tangible results to show for the risks that Ade took. Despite being the same size as the other parties that were sent out on occasion his team consistently brought back more resources. A large part of that was his superior pathfinding skills, Ade liked to think, but the other part of the equation was that travelling deeper meant they had a shorter distance to go to find their harvesting location, giving them more time to gather resources and return, and less time spent hauling heavy bags over unforgiving terrain.


    The terrain and monsters present might be a constant challenge to the nomads, but the struggle against them had its own rewards. Ade felt his Pathfinding skill improving as he worked to compensate for the size of his group, as he worked to maintain a safe depth level, and as he patiently tried to tease out more information from his sense. Each return trip found Ade with a little bit more energy remaining, energy he put to use practicing and pushing himself further before collapsing in bed to repeat the cycle the next day.


    One downside of his occupation was that Ade wasn¡¯t present to really see the Oasis be developed over time. Every day he got glimpses of new construction and of the farm slowly growing towards maturity, but more often than not he had to be informed over a late meal of the changes that had taken place that day, improvements caused by both the villagers and the Oasis itself.


    Most of the workforce that remained in the oasis was focused on farming or on building. A few small houses had been built, and had been occupied by the tribe bachelors, but most people seemed happy to live out of their tents for the time being. Each family had had years to gather decorations and customize the mobile homes to their needs and desires. Combined with the novice skill of the builders and it simply wasn¡¯t an improvement switching from cloth to brick housing. The houses built did provide some much-needed space for the single adults to set up in, as it would take a trip to a town to purchase the necessary cloth to create a completely new tent, something that wouldn¡¯t happen while the tribe was stationary.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The farm itself had grown as the tribe slowly figured out what worked and what didn¡¯t. It quickly became apparent that the rapid growth possible with a sudden influx of water was not something that could be constantly used. Part of the magic of the plants was the ability of the seeds and the roots to gather ambient magic for months or years, slowly converting it into stored potential that could then fuel sudden bursts of life. While some seeds from the first cycle of growth were set aside to let this happen passively, other plants were tended to carefully, hoping that continued watering would succeed and enabling a slower, more usual method of growth.


    The Oasis itself had also made some changes, while Ade was out and about. The most obvious was another wave of growth for the plants present, as larger plants had sprouted and gained a good amount of growth. The bushes were knee high and thriving. Even if there wasn¡¯t any fruit on them to harvest, they still promised a renewable source of wood for the nomads to use. Not anything durable or large enough to carve or use in construction, but twigs and branches from some of the bushes could easily be broken off, left to dry, and then used as fuel for the nightly fire.


    It wasn¡¯t just the native plants that had benefited from the sudden magical growth. While none of the magical desert plants were alive enough to benefit, the children had, in their own free time, planted a large variety of objects. The rocks and leaves obviously weren¡¯t affected, but enough vegetables had taken root and sprouted that there was now a small garden that the kids had taken great pride in showing to their parents. The original farm had been retilled and planted with regular vegetables, which would either grow slowly or would be there to sprout when the next wave of magic occurred. There was an ongoing argument amongst the tribe just how often waves occurred and what effects they had. It was easy to point at the expanding pool or the sudden growth of plants to show that some sort of magic was present, but a sizable minority claimed to feel waves of magic every few days, even when there wasn''t anything obvious to show for it. A few viewed the changes negatively, signs that the Oasis was unstable and any effort the tribe put into building and improving things would eventually be destroyed in an instant by unknowable magics. Most though saw it as a positive mystery. It might be strange, but so far it had been beneficial, and they had heard of stranger things in some of the other cities centered around Oases.


    For the most part Ade stayed out of the arguments, pointing out that he wasn¡¯t present at the Oasis enough to truly develop a position on the matter, but at the same time that distance gave him a unique perspective. Combined with his Pathfinder sense Ade was more sensitive to most to the pulses of change, and he could tell that there was something more happening to the oasis than just the physical changes. Monsters had tried to attack several more times since the Sand Wolves had chased him home, but none of the attacks had been serious, thanks in large part to the mystical invisible barrier over the Oasis. Without the need to rush out and defend a harvesting group the guards were protected by that barrier. They still engaged the monsters, but they did so with the confidence that they couldn¡¯t be flanked, couldn¡¯t be swarmed and surrounded, as they slowly whittled the monsters away until they were all dead or driven off.


    The proven existence of that barrier was a valuable piece of information indeed. Night shifts were always dangerous for guards out in the Sands. Not only were most monsters nocturnal to avoid the heat of the day, but their senses were much better in the dark than human ones were. It was all too easy for the stealthy ones to infiltrate a camp like the water elementals had two months ago, or for a stronger monster to get the drop on a guard at a time when backup needed to be roused from their sleep before coming to help. Towns located outside the sands were somewhat safer, but even then a guard was necessary whenever a group arrived, leaving a trail that monsters could potentially follow.


    The sheer security that the barrier offered would drive the asking price for the Oasis up immensely. Already there were very few individuals or parties with the resources necessary to truly invest in an Oasis. The upside for those individuals was that they didn¡¯t need to pay full price for the Oasis, just enough to convince a group of travelling nomads to continue with their regular lifestyle instead of risking it all to build something new. This unexpected benefit would definitely factor into whatever negotiations took place.


    Ade didn¡¯t know how he felt about that. He liked what he was doing at the moment, the freedom to pick his own path doing wonders for his state of mind combined with his ability to avoid spending too much time with the elders who had their own plans for him. At first, he had hoped that if the tribe decided to stay at the Oasis permanently it would free up his future so that he could do whatever he wanted. The problem with that dream was that it presumed Ade¡¯s only value as a Pathfinder was leading the whole tribe around. His ability to find needed resources was invaluable to the otherwise stationary tribe. While eventually the Oasis might become a large enough hub of trade and commerce to no longer need Ade¡¯s help to function, he was positive now that the Elders would always have some idea of how he could serve the tribe. In many ways Ade was closer to his dream of freely travelling the sands, but in other ways he was exactly as trapped as he had been when he started. The question always came down to if Ade was willing to abandon the people who relied on him. For now, the answer was no, and Ade didn¡¯t see that changing in the future.


    The thought weighed on Ades¡¯s mind as he woke up and started his daily routine. Everyone had been pushing themselves hard and today had been declared a day of rest, where their only task was to help around the camp in a few small manners. It didn¡¯t take long for Ade to finish his assigned chores and for him to then escape out into the desert, where he could think freely. Before he could begin to work through his problems, he saw people on the horizon. Someone was coming towards the Oasis.

 Chapter 30: Ade

    Chapter 30: Ade


    Even with a dusty wind obscuring features, it didn¡¯t take long for Ade to recognize the solid frame of his grandfather leading the rest of the group. Knowing his grandfather was present helped Ade to pick out the two elders situated further back, riding camels and conversing with a stranger riding a horse. It was a rare breed of horse that could function in the desert heat and sandy terrain, and comfortably riding one was a sure sign of wealth. Further back were two more strangers leading a pack-camel along, but Ade didn¡¯t focus on them for long. He had been thrust into a position of moderate importance with his grandfather¡¯s leaving. While he had grown from the trials he had faced, he looked forward to sharing his stories with his grandfather, benefitting from his wisdom and receiving support from one of the few people who could judge his actions honestly.


    The guards had spotted the group and were already raising the alarm, making sure everyone knew that someone was approaching. Ade considered passing along the message that the group was friendly but decided to leave it be. He wasn¡¯t that much closer to the travelers than the guards were, they¡¯d notice soon enough and spread the word before anyone got the wrong idea into their head. Instead, Ade began to jog towards the group, maintaining a brisk pace despite the sand eating away at his momentum with every step.


    Ade spotted the moment his grandfather recognized him. Ahten¡¯s shoulders lifted as a small burden was taken off of them. The senior pathfinder had practically raised Ade after the passing of his parents, and even though Ade was now a young man settling into his own place with the tribe his grandfather would never not worry about him. The month and half they had been apart had been the longest time they were separated, and the reunion brought a small smile to the old man¡¯s face, but no more. Taking his social cues from his grandfather, Ade did not rush forwards with a hug like he was originally intending. Instead, he stopped once he was inside comfortable speaking distance and gave a respectful bow.


    ¡°Pathfinder Ahten, Elders Shan and Jero, Honored guests, welcome to our Oasis.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not quite there yet, boy.¡± The stranger mounted on a horse chuckled deeply. ¡°You¡¯ve got keen eyes to spot us this far out, but greetings can wait until I have grass under my feet and a nice cool drink in my hand.¡± Putting action to words, he kicked his horse forwards, resuming his travel towards the now visible Oasis, no longer needing to rely on a Pathfinder to keep from getting lost. The elders followed on their camels, with the two ground bound strangers scrambling to keep up with the increased pace. The elders sent small glares towards Ade for ruining whatever introduction they had hoped for but focused most of their attention towards praising the many benefits the Oasis offered.


    Ade took the time to study the strangers now that they were closer. The mounted man was clearly the leader, accustomed to giving orders and having them obeyed, given the way the others jumped whenever he addressed them. He was also a warrior of some skill, given his taut muscles and scarred skin put on display by his sleeveless tunic. He was also rich enough to treat wealth as an afterthought. Necklaces and rings of gold and other precious metal were present in large numbers but had been placed with little care for coordination or effect. It was a striking contrast to the wicked scimitar at his waist, which gleamed with fresh polish and which the man¡¯s every movement compensated for.


    If one stranger was a fighter, then the next was clearly a mage. The staff he carried wasn''t an uncommon tool out in the desert, but it was no simple piece of wood to help one¡¯s balance or serve as a simple weapon. Runes had been carved over the length of the surface and then filled in with a silvery metal that caught and reflected sunlight like it was liquid. Securely nestled in the top of the staff was a large tan gem, that had an otherworldly weight to it. Ade had little experience with magic, but the gem¡¯s presence could only be called magical. The rest of the man¡¯s attire seemed to support his position as a caster of some style or another. His skin was paler than it should be, with areas of red tinged sunburn visible even underneath the hooded robe used for protection. The man also kept shifting his weight gingerly from one foot to another, doing his best to avoid putting pressure on blisters. He was clearly not accustomed to heading out into the Sands, and Ade wondered as to why the fighter had brought him. The last stranger was the hardest to place. At first Ade had figured him as just the tender for the camels he led. His clothes were a cut below the others, and both the fighter and the mage seemed to treat him as their lesser. The reason for their disdain was obvious enough. One hand was missing completely, having been replaced with a simple metal hook. His other hand seemed functional enough beneath the layers of cloth that served as makeshift gloves, but he still fumbled or took longer to handle the camel¡¯s leads than he should have. The only thing that kept Ade from writing him off as a simple helper was the bitter look that entered his eyes at odd moments when the others were distracted.


    Ade shrugged, whatever mystery or history was present there wasn¡¯t really his concern. The Elders obviously thought there was a good deal to be had here, and Ade hoped so as well. It was hard to imagine the kind of resources it would cost to buy an Oasis, but if all went well Ade wouldn¡¯t have to imagine it.


    The two pathfinders were silent as they were slowly left behind. Only once the others were out of earshot did Ahten drop his cool demeanor and embrace Ade in a giant hug.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Grandson, it is good to be back. More than that, it is good to see you again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to have you back Grandfather.¡± Ade gave his father-figure an honest smile, the edges twisted slightly downwards as memories went through his mind. ¡°We¡¯ve been busy while you were gone.¡±


    ¡°I could tell even before I got here. It took longer coming back than it did heading out. I see all sorts of buildings that weren¡¯t here when I left. Those plants to the side there are new. And is it just me, or is the Oasis bigger than it was when I left?¡± Pathfinder Ahten gave the place a quick inspection, his experienced eye picking out the differences immediately.


    Ade chuckled at the undertone of confusion present in the last question. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong or senile, old man. Part of the magic that makes an Oasis special, as far as we can tell. Helps keep the monsters away and everyone seems to have a bit more energy than they used to as well. It hasn¡¯t grown in a few weeks though, so it¡¯s probably something that slows down as Oases age. One more thing the elders can use to get a better deal, now that they¡¯ve found a buyer.¡± The topic change wasn¡¯t particularly subtle, but it didn¡¯t need to be. The caring relationship the two had meant that they were both interested in what the other had been doing in their absence.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve only had to find a Path for four people: Myself, the two elders, and young Mel, our guard. With such a small group it was easy as breathing to find a safe path that was deep enough to have us in Luxor in two days. Sure beats a week of travel with the whole tribe.¡± Ahten chuckled. ¡°Elder Shan knew someone there, some second cousin or other who had left the tribe a long time ago to become a blacksmith. He was successful enough to host us for a small fee, so we stayed there while the two elders went about their own business. Mel spent her time sparring and training, normally with the guards, but every now and then with and adventuring group when they were in town. She actually got an offer to join them instead of coming back with us.¡±


    ¡°And you?¡± Ade prompted. ¡°How did you keep yourself busy during the trip?¡±


    ¡°Busy, ha!¡± Ahten laughed at the word and held up a hand to let Ade give him a chance to catch his breath. ¡°I relaxed while I was gone. It was pleasant being able to simply sit in a chair and watch the bustle of the city around me, knowing that not a single one of them needed me for anything. I¡¯ve been Tribe Pathfinder for decades now. A short time to not be one was just what I needed. Hey, none of that now.¡± Ade had shifted his gaze away while Ahten had been talking, the talk about not wanting to be Pathfinder hitting a little harder than he expected. As such he didn¡¯t see it coming when his grandfather once again wrapped him up in a hug, this one longer and softer.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been the perfect grandson. Always obedient, always diligent with your training, and always eager to please me. I am honored to call you family. You¡¯ve never said anything to make your feelings on the matter obvious, I just know what¡¯s running through your mind because of my own experience. It¡¯s okay to want to follow your own path through life, and I won¡¯t hear of anyone telling you otherwise."


    ¡°But the tribe¡­¡± Ade started, before choking up, as unacknowledged feelings pressed their way to the surface.


    ¡°Fuck the tribe.¡±


    The unexpected curse from his normally calm grandfather temporarily broke Ade out of the well of emotions he found himself in. His grandfather sighed, before continuing with just as much energy. ¡°Part of Nomad culture is the pursuit of strength. Without sufficient strength the dangers present in the Shifting Sands will kill or injure the unprepared. Strength is valued, and weakness is scorned. Most of us find the needed strength in a tribe. ¡®Where one might fall, a dozen stand together¡¯, as the saying goes. It isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing, but the danger is that a tribe¡¯s strength can be taken away far more easily than the strength of an individual. You or me leaving the tribe to go our own way weakens the tribe, weakens others even though they should have no say in what we do.¡±


    Seeing that Ade was listening intently Ahten took a moment to gather his thoughts and catch his breath, before continuing on more gently. ¡°Their weakness is not your problem. If you left, they would still have me and the other three Pathfinders to rely on, and even then they could simply part ways and join a village or a city, or pool their resources to hire a pathfinder. Hell, they could certainly be doing more to keep us around! I¡¯m too old to appreciate it, but I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t mind a nice girl or three, eh?¡± Ade¡¯s face flushed at the image that entered his mind, and slowly the guilt he was feeling eased.


    ¡°I do want to help the tribe. I just¡­¡± Ade floundered, lost for words to describe the warring emotions battling in his chest. A steady hand on his shoulder reassured him.


    ¡°I should have sat you down a couple years ago to have this talk, but I thought we had more time for you to figure out what you wanted without me interfering. You finding this Oasis was a blessing, but it also put a heavy burden of responsibility on your shoulders. I¡¯m proud of you, and your parents would be proud too. You¡¯re young yet, so don¡¯t try and have this all figured out by tomorrow. As long as I¡¯m around to have a say in the matter no one will stop you from following your own path. If that¡¯s following in my footsteps, then I couldn¡¯t be happier. If your dreams lead you elsewhere then I¡¯ll content myself watching as you make the world tremble.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The words came out in a whisper, but they carried with them a sense of peace that Ade had been missing for a while. ¡°I don¡¯t know what exactly I want to do, but I have some ideas. Have you ever heard of any tribes that focus on adventuring? Because I think that there are some real opportunities to help the tribe grow.¡±


    ¡°Not precisely, but there are a few tribes who send out their own adventuring parties. It sounds like that¡¯s a discussion for later. We need to get back to camp before they start sending out search parties, and you need to tell me what you¡¯ve been up to first.¡±


    Side by side the two slowly made their way back towards the village, telling stories as they went.


    ¡°Elder Gomer put himself in charge after you left and asked me to help find some resources the tribe needed.¡±


    ¡°Elder Gomer, eh? I might need to have a few words with him once I find a quiet moment.¡±


    ¡°He fully explained what he wanted to do and what he needed from me, and I knew what I was getting myself into.¡±


    ¡°Did you really?¡±


    ¡°Well, not at first. How much do you know about sand wolves?¡±

 Chapter 31: Ade

    It didn¡¯t take long for the two Pathfinders to make it back to the Oasis, where they found the potential buyer had gone on a charm offensive.


    ¡°Zar¡¯s the name, Zar Bloodwake if you need another one. Was only born with the first, so came up with the second when a tax collector asked. The name¡¯s the only thing I gave the leech. If he wants some of my gold he can go fight monsters himself.¡± The rider had dismounted and had handed the reins of his horse off to his crippled follower, who sullenly stared from the sideline as his superior made a popular spectacle of himself. His tan, muscled arms were quite the hit with the nomads interested in that sort of thing. Muscles like that took years of dedication to acquire, years the fighter had put to good use as indicated by his fine clothes and jewelry. His biggest fans, however, weren¡¯t interested in any of those features.


    ¡°Mr. Zar, can you show us your sword?¡± An innocent six year old asked, holding his own stick based weaponry up for comparison. Always happy to show off the adventurer motioned everyone to step back. The scimitar seemed to leap into his hand where he expertly used it to run through a series of cuts that had the sword flying up and down, crossing his body and even cutting out behind his back before returning the blade to its sheath. His audience watched with rapt eyes, and after a little begging he was convinced to demonstrate a second routine.


    Adventurers were rare amongst the nomads. Their mobile nature meant that it was simple enough to leave an area if they came across a dangerous monster. The need to drive off or defeat monsters to preserve trade and message routes or settlements situated too close to the sands provided the incentives that drove the high risk, high reward business of Adventuring.


    ¡°Wooow¡± the kids watching chorused, much to Zar¡¯s amusement.


    ¡°Impressive, eh?¡± he asked and got a chorus of nods in response. ¡°Unfortunately monsters don¡¯t care how impressive an adventurer I am, more¡¯s the pity.¡± He half-lifted the scimitar out of the sheath.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good weapon, but swords are meant for fighting people, opponents where finesse and skill can make the difference between their blood running or yours.. Against monsters you either want something with some distance, or something with some weight, preferably some of both as a group. I used an axe to cut my way up to silver rank, not a lot of monsters I couldn¡¯t draw blood from, and that was only because they didn¡¯t have any. Just don¡¯t ask me to fight any fire monsters, ha ha.¡±


    Seeing that the Elders were trying to get his attention Zar quickly wrapped things up. ¡°Why don¡¯t you kids go and hit each other with sticks to learn how to do it right while I have a quick chat with these old folk over here.¡± While nearby parents did their best to stop the excited children eager to begin replicating Zar¡¯s swordplay, the man himself was ushered into a tent to talk. Pathfinder Ahten used his status to join the group inside, pulling his grandson after him.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t lying, it''s the real deal, and I¡¯m buying. How much?¡± Zar was quick and to the point once everyone was inside.


    ¡°Um, well.¡±


    ¡°Too much babbling, not enough talking. The only reason you have something to sell is because you got here first. By myself I could probably handle half your guards if it came to a fight, and I¡¯m not even that strong compared to some of the mercenaries out there. Every day you don¡¯t sell is one more day for someone else to find you and kick you out of here, and I¡¯m only willing to negotiate because I think it will be less of a hassle. So make sure it isn¡¯t a hassle.¡± Zar kept up the verbal assault, keeping everyone else off balance while he established his position.


    ¡°Eight hundred.¡± Elder Shan spoke up.


    Zar shook his head. ¡°Eight hundred was the price back when I thought you had a chance of actually defending it. There¡¯s four hundred pounds of gold on the camels I brought along. It¡¯s yours along with a few useful magical items if we close this deal right now. Then you can be long gone before any fighting starts.


    Ade could tell some of the elders were interested in that option. That was a large amount of gold. Split up evenly it was almost two pounds of gold per person, enough wealth to live comfortably for a year, longer if efforts were made to be frugal. Spent in bulk to purchase supplies and tools for the tribe meant the next decade or two would have an unheard level of security.


    Elder Gomer wasn¡¯t about to just roll over and close the deal that easily. ¡°That might be true, but we¡¯ve learned more about the Oasis since then as well. A magical barrier to deter monsters, the fact that the Oasis is slowly growing in size, and an occasional boost to plants all add a good amount to the price, I should think.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Instead of being scared off or concerned by the demand for more money, Zar¡¯s gaze grew downright avaricious. ¡°That does change things. What I brought with me should serve as a down payment, so let¡¯s talk about how much you want to keep this place between just us.¡±


    Ade lost the train of conversation after that, as the more experienced traders quickly broke down into arguing over details such as the worth of Kalimshan silver or the approximate value of a pair of used stormcloaks. Eventually everyone seemed satisfied with what they had negotiated for, and a round of handshakes followed as the deal was sealed.


    ¡°Ade, go tell the cooks to begin preparations for a feast.¡± Elder Shan ordered.


    ¡°Drinks or a celebratory meal will have to wait for my return, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Zar said regretfully. ¡°I love a party as much as anyone, but time waits for no man. If your Pathfinder is willing, I would like to begin the journey back to Luxor posthaste. It¡¯ll take some time to gather up the men I need.¡±


    ¡°These bones should be good for another trip or two.¡± Pathfinder Ahten said wryly. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to do my relaxing in Luxor while I wait.¡±


    ¡°My servant will come back with me, but Ramses, the earth mage, can stay here to start the process of building proper fortifications.¡± A few of the elders grimaced at the half hidden insult, but held their tongues.


    The quick turnaround wasn¡¯t expected, but didn¡¯t require any significant preparation. The pack camels were unloaded and fitted with saddles for Ahten and the unnamed servant to ride, even as the wrapped treasures were carried to a storehouse, most people unaware of the contents hidden behind burlap and leather. With their food and water supplies restocked, the trio left the Oasis at a quick pace, letting their mounts do the hard work of carrying them back to the city.


    Ramses the mage had found a comfortable spot by the pool for a nap, and when woken and told of the new plans had simply grunted ¡°Tomorrow.¡± before rolling over and ignoring everyone.


    With the outsiders accounted for the Elders once more made their way back to their tent, where their show of unity immediately broke apart.


    ¡°He was the best buyer you could find?¡±


    ¡°You should have held out for a higher price.¡±


    ¡°He rubs me the wrong way.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see you volunteering.¡±


    ¡°How much do we trust the mage, more like a spy, he left behind?"


    ¡°Silence!¡± Elder Gomer cut through the quickly forming arguments. ¡°I have my own concerns about the matter, but Elders Shan and Jero deserve a chance to explain themselves before we start throwing accusations at them.¡±


    Elder Jero gave a quick nod in thanks, before quickly summarizing their trip. ¡°Uneventful journey to Luxor, where we stayed at Torm the blacksmith¡¯s house. No news about any other nomads, either at Luxor or at any of the other places they traded with." The news brought some frowns from those elders who had hoped to contact their distant cousins, but Jero pressed onwards. ¡°Tried to talk to leaders of the city, couldn¡¯t get an appointment. Took some coinage but managed to get a middleman to spread the word we had a secret to sell. Three weeks of politely dealing with bronze adventurers and landowners with more greed than money. Zar was one of the few who seemed reasonable, and who could possibly pay us enough to make it worth the effort. Noble from another city, rumors say.¡±


    Elder Shan took over. ¡°The other thing that made us go forward with selling to Zar was that despite our best efforts to keep things quiet people were starting to get ideas. Second week after we got there anonymous parties issued a whole bunch of exploration contracts for independent Pathfinders. Zar isn¡¯t the perfect buyer, but he¡¯s the only one willing and able to buy in the timeframe we found ourselves in. It¡¯s only a matter of time before someone else stumbles over this place, and even with the advantages that come with defending against attacks from the Shifting Sands, we simply don¡¯t have the combat strength to drive off any serious attempt.¡±


    There were a few more questions and accusations thrown around, but it quickly became clear that the choices made were the best of a bad bunch. With that point of contention cleared up the Elders switched focus to planning for the future.


    ¡°Two or three weeks for Pathfinder Ahten to guide them to Luxor, for them to gather up a group, and then return. It¡¯s not rushed, but we will need to make sure everyone is ready to move again after our long period of staying stationary.¡± Elder Gomer outlined the timeframe they had to work with.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be hard convincing some people to head out, but the sight of gold should go a long way towards making the stubborn parties go along with it. Especially if we can establish good relationships with whoever Zar brings here and can make this Oasis a regular stop on our travels.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t like it.¡± Elder Arun grumbled. ¡°What if it all turns out to be a setup, a trap of some sort?¡±


    Elder Gomer ended the meeting. ¡°Only so much we can do. We make them regret their betrayal as much as possible, and we do our best to make sure the tribe survives. We have a couple of weeks to get ready. Arun, I¡¯d like it if you can try and set up some surprises just in case things do take a turn for the worst.¡±

 Chapter 32: Kairen

    ¡°I love you. You¡¯ve been amazing companions over this last month. I have nothing against you. I just wish everyone else had a better view of rats.


    Kairen¡¯s minions were gathered around him, looking on impassively. The last month had seen an explosion in the rat population of the Oasis. Not only had Alpha¡¯s children grown up and had litters of their own, but Alpha and Beta had given birth to another litter as well. Unfortunately for Kairen¡¯s dream of hordes of loyal minions, whatever magic empowered the rats and let them see him wasn¡¯t consistent. Despite naming all of Alpha¡¯s second brood at his insistence, only one of them, Lambda, actually possessed the spark of intelligence. The third-generation rats showed a similar trend, where only a couple were able to see and hear the ghost child. For the moment the intelligent rats were able to keep their unenlightened brethren in line, but Kairen had a feeling that as soon as there was a shortage of food he would have a problem on his hands.


    His ability to expand the Oasis and generate more types of plants made that an issue for future Kairen to deal with. Right now, his focus was on the adventurers who had visited the camp, and the problems they posed. It wasn¡¯t that the adventurers were frauds. Kairen had seen the group at work months ago when they eliminated a sand worm that had been plaguing the village he grew up in. They had the strength to defeat monsters, and regularly put it to use. The village head had handed over the bounty on the monsters and had passed a message confirming the successful completion of the quest to the Adventurers guild. Everything had been fine until a month later, when a group led by those same adventurers had come through and torn down everything the villagers had created, killing those who fought and putting the rest in chains.


    Only the nocturnal nature of his rats had stopped Kairen from commanding them to attack Zar, regardless of how futile any such attempt would be. At the very least such strange behavior might have tipped off the Nomads that something else was going on, but despite his best efforts and loudest screams Kairen had been unable to wake any of his furry friends until after the mercenary slaver had departed with his crippled pathfinder, the location of the Oasis now known to those who would take advantage of it.


    It would take time for the slavers to gather their numbers and travel across the sands, time that Kairen would have to use as best he could to try and warn the Nomads and to improve his defenses as much as possible. His resources to do so were a new upgrade every few days that the nomads may or may not notice, and a colony of rats, only some of which could hear and understand him.


    Kairen had learned a lot about the limits of his connection with the rodents over the last month. There was a soft limit to the complexity of instructions that he could convey to them. While they could easily understand and follow his commands to stop, head somewhere, or do a specific action, consecutive or conditional commands were hit or miss. Kairen suspected that whatever magic let the rats hear him conveyed his intent instead of his specific words. By focusing he could manage to impress a pair of orders at once, but usually it was easier to simply focus his attention on a single rat, supplying additional instructions as needed to make sure everything worked out as he planned.


    Most of the commands Kairen had given were focused on helping the rats avoid detection. From warning them away from the storehouses to showing them safer sources of food. One success that had stuck with him had been early on when he had taught a single rat, Epsilon, how to use a piece of root as bait to attract prey. The ants hadn¡¯t appealed to the rats as a food source, but the beetles and grasshoppers who made their way over to the root bait seemed tasty enough, as was a small bird that Epsilon managed to catch by surprise and bring down. Even more gratifying for Kairen was that Epsilon had learned enough of the technique to repeat it on her own the next day, without any orders or direction from Kairen at all.


    The rats were intelligent, and willing to follow orders from Kairen even when he asked them to do things they wouldn¡¯t do normally, but they still possessed a sense of self preservation. Kairen had tried to get Alpha to pose on his altar to try and develop a connection in the nomads¡¯ minds between the rats and himself as the guiding spirit of the Oasis. Alpha had been more than willing to climb up the altar and sit patiently at night and had even resisted the temptation to nibble on the offerings when Kairen had asked. When Kairen had tried the same thing at dawn Alpha had climbed up easily enough, but had shown a degree of tension that had quickly grown as the humans approached. Before the nomads could really spot the rodent acting unusually, Alpha had bolted, hiding behind the pillar and running away before the humans could get close.


    Despite his best efforts to impress the need for secrecy to the rat colony the regular rats had been seen a few times. Thankfully not in any of the human food supplies, and thankfully not in large numbers, but already the nomads were training one of the dogs as a ratter, slowly teaching him how to run his prey down and kill it. More immediately it meant that even if he could convince his rats to act as messengers the nomads were likely to take a ¡®kill first, question later¡¯ approach to any unusual circumstances he might be able to organize. That wouldn¡¯t stop Kairen from trying. He cared for his rats, but not to the point where would let the nomads be pillaged and enslaved just to keep one or two alive. He was willing to do whatever it took to get a warning out.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    An opportunity to do so came far earlier than Kairen had been expecting. The very next day the earth mage began his work of raising fortifications. Sand was a poor medium to work with defensively. While it provided earth mages with a variety of options for attacking their enemies, it usually lacked the cohesion necessary to form solid defenses, and required additional magic to force it into shape and then to maintain the structure. Ramses wasn¡¯t interested in putting that effort in for defenses that would likely be temporary. He instead chose to work his Magic inside the Oasis, and Kairen immediately noticed when he did so.


    The pain wasn¡¯t quite as bad as when the water elementals had absorbed water from his pool and had stolen his upgrade points, but it was something that forced his way into Kairen¡¯s awareness. The closest he could come to describing the strange sensation was that someone had grabbed his third arm and forced it behind his back in a painful hold. No damage was actually being done, but it still was an unpleasant experience. A quick check confirmed that none of the defensive options Kairen had access to reduced the effect of magic, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t push back against the caster. Filled with righteous fury at the mage and his association with slavers, Kairen stormed his way over to the construction site.


    Every spell the mage cast raised the ground by a few inches, and already a knee-high mound was visible. For once Kairen was grateful for his intangibility. Instead of climbing on top of the mound he walked through it, treating the ground as if it were still flat. The effect his metaphysical presence had on the spells being performed was immediately visible. The effort of casting drastically rose, as Ramses began to sweat and grimace due to the strain.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± One of the matronly nomads asked.


    ¡°No, NO. Nothing wrONG.¡± Ramses managed to force out his voice trembling from the pressure. Remarkably he managed to guide the spell to completion, bringing the section he was working on to waist height before attempting to casually relax and catch his breath, his performance slightly ruined by his heaving chest.


    ¡°I just remembered I have a couple of design questions for your elders." The tired mage fabricated an excuse and made his escape, leaving a nastily grinning ghost behind. Kairen¡¯s glee faded a bit as he considered his victory. He could slow down the mage¡¯s progress, but given enough time the walls he was working on would still go up. And despite his dislike of Zar and anyone associated with him, it was hard to see how that was a bad thing. Sure, the Oasis would eventually belong to slavers who would use those defenses for their own advantage, but until the betrayal that Kairen expected happened the walls were a great benefit for the tribe. Additional protection from monsters was hardly a bad thing, after all. Was this truly something Kairen should be devoting his efforts to sabotaging?


    Yes. If Kairen had other things he could be doing he gladly would. Once night fell, he could mobilize his rats to try and get a message to the nomads, and in a few days he could put his next upgrade towards the same purpose. Until then though, he had nothing else to do with his time. Interfering with the walls might risk the tribe to some small degree, but their lives were forfeit if things played out the way Kairen expected. Playing tricks on the earth mage was unusual enough it would hopefully draw the attention of the nomads, putting them on high alert for any of his other tricks or attempts to make contact. It wasn¡¯t the least he could do, it wasn¡¯t the most he could do, it was all Kairen could do, and that fact would have to satisfy him as he tried to avert a future calamity.


    Night soon arrived, with poor Ramses only managing to complete a few more spells before calling it quits. Kairen resolved to pull back some of his harassment. He was worried that if he continued to interfere with every casting attempt that the mage would simply give up and laze about instead of working. Varying the difficulty would draw out the spectacle of haunting over a longer period of time and hopefully would be more noticeable as intentional instead of being written off as magic being difficult to cast in the Oasis.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the rats to come out of their burrows once the glare of the sun was gone, and while most of the rats went about the business of hunting for food, a few spotted Kairen and made their way over to where he was standing. Kairen took a few minutes to pet the named rats, feeling some of the tension leaving his body as he did so. With that emotional distance came clarity, and Kairen began to speak to his tiny audience.


    ¡°I hope you can understand what I¡¯m saying, and not just what I want you to do. My village was destroyed by an evil slaver who took advantage of our generosity. He killed my family, put me in chains, and crippled my body before leaving me to die in the desert. Now that same man found this place. The nomads don¡¯t know what he¡¯s done, and don¡¯t know what will happen to them if he isn¡¯t stopped. So please, whatever intelligence, whatever magic, whatever compassion that you have, help me save the nomads. I have some ideas, but I¡¯m going to need your help. Can you give it to me?"


    The response was immediate and overwhelming. Kairen found his sitting position swarmed with rats as they surged forwards, each and every one eager to show him their support. His ghostly frame wasn¡¯t capable of fully supporting their weight, but that didn¡¯t stop them from jumping up to brush against him.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kairen whispered. ¡°Now let¡¯s go save my friends.¡±

 Chapter 33: Kairen

    Dawn arrived bringing with it a familiar scene. Kairen scowled at the window hanging in front of him, the screen unchanged from every other time he had looked at it. Despite the complexity of the structured images, the various costs and links and promises of even more power hidden away out of sight, the power it currently granted Kairen was rather easy to summarize.


    Repel Monsters - level 3.


    Oasis Size - level 5.


    Plant Diversity - level 2.


    Fertility Blessing - level 1.


    Endurance Blessing- level 2.


    Intelligence Blessing - level 1.


    Six small powers. That was all that Kairen currently had at his command. No great armies or grand spells to conjure at his whim, but he might be able to do something about sand getting in people¡¯s eyes. He snorted bitterly. His lack of power was made worse with the knowledge that all sorts of benefits and abilities were just waiting for him to choose them. He just needed more time.


    Kairen had known that the third row of upgrades would cost more than the rows below it. He just hadn¡¯t accounted for how many upgrade points it would take to obtain one. Advancing from the first tier to the second had happened quickly, taking little more than a week, even fueled as it was by the significance of the initial celebration the nomads had held. Kairen had expected his progress to slow down some, but with the nomads providing additional upgrade points he had expected to fly up the tiers, purchasing tier three upgrades and pulling back the veil on what lay beyond, suggestively hinted at by lines that trailed off into nothingness. It wasn¡¯t to be.


    1000 points.


    It was a fortune compared to the fifty upgrade points required to unlock his initial upgrades. It was expensive compared to the three hundred point cost of the second tier, although after some basic math Kairen was grateful that the system hadn¡¯t continued the price increase and charged him 1800 points per ability.


    Really though, Kairen didn¡¯t mind the amount so much, it was a lot, but Kairen could afford that purchase after waiting two weeks. The larger issue was one he hadn¡¯t expected. Even if he waited, tried to stockpile as many upgrade points as he could, it wouldn¡¯t do him any good. Kairen had a limit, a maximum capacity for upgrade points. Only once had he actually reached that limit, and the system had immediately forced him to select an available upgrade, spending those points and preventing his grasp from exceeding his reach. That incident had confirmed the limit the system had placed on him, and a limit it was. As Kairen looked at the screen he saw the small 750 that represented his current capacity. Each upgrade moved it upwards fifty points at a time, but the need to grab five upgrades before having access to the third tier represented a time and point commitment Kairen didn¡¯t think he had, not for his current plans.


    He didn''t think the slavers would do anything to destroy the oasis and by extension his own strange existence. However, having his own survival assured didn¡¯t prevent him from becoming invested in the wellbeing of the nomads who had made his Oasis their home, especially when they were threatened by the same forces that had taken so much from Kairen.


    With the third tier out of reach, it didn¡¯t take long for Kairen to go over his options for spending his points. The defensive tree was ignored as it only defended against actual monsters, not the ones in human skin. That left the physical tree and the blessing tree, as Kairen had come to think of them. Changing the physical characteristics of the Oasis and empowering the people residing therein were diametrically different, but Kairen could see benefits of both options.


    Selecting a physical upgrade wasn¡¯t immediately useful but worked well with his thoughts on getting the attention of the nomads. It was something he could only do once or twice, but chosen at the right moment might be what was necessary to convince the nomads he was real, at which point he could work on warning them about the danger they were in.


    The other path Kairen could invest in was the combat blessing. The guards trained regularly and saw infrequent combat against monsters that found their way to the Oasis. Kairen didn¡¯t know how powerful the blessing would be, but every bit of skill he could help them gain in fighting would be put to work fighting for their lives. It was the less risky option, the choice with a guaranteed minor benefit without any chance of truly changing the outcome.


    That was the sticking point for Kairen. He wasn¡¯t interested in hurting the slavers. Rather, he was, he simply wanted to help the nomads more. It didn¡¯t matter how many enemy fighters the nomads killed if they still lost in the end. Life was cheap to Zar, both the lives of slaves and the lives of those following under him. Losing more men simply meant fewer people to divide the spoils between. There were always more evil men he could recruit when needed. For Kairen, every resident of his Oasis was precious, and each one he could keep from being killed or enslaved would be a victory worth celebrating.Stolen novel; please report.


    Managing to warn or save the nomads was something Kairen was still figuring out, but he could focus his full attention towards thinking of a solution without wondering if there was a better answer only a single upgrade away. And speaking of upgrades¡­


    Kairen¡¯s eyes turned back to the screen. He had enough points saved up to purchase the plant area upgrade whenever he wanted to. It would take some time to set up the right circumstances, time where Kairen would continue to earn upgrade points. Until now Kairen had been purchasing upgrades that were directly useful. He didn¡¯t regret doing so, but the increasing cost of each level of upgrade meant that some of his purchases had been rather expensive. Now Kairen found himself in the unusual situation of having more upgrade points than he needed, and a maximum pool smaller than he liked.


    Kairen had only grabbed a single level of the fertility blessing, before focusing his attention elsewhere. Without giving himself time to hesitate Kairen reached out and purchased the second level. While the increased fertility would somewhat help Kairen by giving him more rats to command, the real benefit was the increase to his upgrade pool. For only 150 points Kairen had inched one step closer towards obtaining a tier three ability. And there were still cheap upgrades available for Kairen to grab. The plant area option was being held in reserve, but once Kairen had earned a few more points he would see about purchasing the other cheap upgrades.


    If Zar took long enough to attack, Kairen would see if the third tier options changed anything, but he wasn¡¯t holding out hope. Even purchasing the cheapest options available, it would still take another two weeks before Kairen could buy an option. It might be sped up slightly by the nomads experiencing significant events, but that wasn¡¯t something he could count on when making plans. A small dark part of Kairen¡¯s mind realized that the betrayal and attack by Zar would be extremely significant and would likely give him a large amount of upgrade points. It would be terribly ironic if the slavers attacking gave him the resources he needed to prevent such an attack, just too late to actually use it.


    Kairen shook the thought away. It didn¡¯t do him any good to dwell on morose thoughts like that. With his points spent for now, Kairen closed the status window and began walking around the Oasis, making note of buildings and sight lines, doing his best to calculate what the guards would be able to see once night fell.


    Soon the sun had set and the stars were out. Kairen was grateful for whatever aspect of his nature that let him see more clearly in the dark than he would have been able to while still living. Normally the rats heading out to forage would have been hidden by the lack of light, but Kairen could make out enough detail to intercept them, slowly but surely gathering the intelligent rats behind him as he walked back and forth between burrows.


    Kairen¡¯s plan was simple. He couldn¡¯t write or draw complicated pictures, and his crude attempts were likely to be dismissed as produced by the children present. By themselves, whatever he could have his rats make wasn¡¯t enough. The trick was to set the stage properly for his next choice to make an impact.


    Arrows were easy to carve in the dirt. Three lines, one for the body and two for the head easily conveyed the direction that Kairen wanted to. Even if the rats didn¡¯t angle things perfectly it didn¡¯t matter much. There were only so many objects in the Oasis that could be pointed towards, and none of them were close to the altar the nomads had set up. At the base of the altar Kairen had his rats construct a more complex shape, one that he spent most of his time fretting over, having the rats dig out and fill in sections of ground until it looked mostly right.


    Placed directly in front of the altar was something any child could draw, something most of them had doodled in the dirt or on parchment at one point or another. It¡¯s meaning was hard to put into words but was obvious to anyone who saw it. A frowning face stared upwards at the sky, it¡¯s disapproval clear to all.


    Under Kairen¡¯s direction the rats continued to draw arrow after arrow pointing towards his message until shortly before dawn, when Kairen let them slip away to their burrows to rest and recover. He didn¡¯t think anything much would come of his actions tonight. The arrows and the unhappy face were obvious enough to understand, but having them be attributed to him, having the nomads turned villagers see him as an active entity and not just a passive one wasn¡¯t an easy thing to request. It was far simpler to think that it was a prank or joke pulled by the youth or a bored adult. It didn¡¯t matter too much. If they brushed it off and cleaned things up Kairen could simply draw more arrows tonight, and the next night, and the night after that. Sooner or later, someone would come to the right conclusion, and Kairen would be ready, listening in. He couldn¡¯t guarantee that someone would say the exact right words, but timed correctly growing the area of the Oasis would provide some means of support for whoever was arguing for him.


    It was a simple plan, one that didn¡¯t really risk much on Kairen¡¯s part. The rats were more than happy to help him with his work, and he wasn¡¯t putting them in any position where their lives were at risk. The only thing it cost Kairen was time, and that was something he was using regardless of whether he attempted to communicate or not. The main reservation Kairen had about his plan was actually succeeding. Making the nomads aware of his existence was only the first step needed to warn or save them. Once they knew he was present he still needed to find a way to let them know about the danger they were in, a far more delicate task. And succeed or fail the nomads weren¡¯t the only ones who would learn about Kairen¡¯s control over the Oasis. The mage Kairen was interfering with was likely beginning to suspect that some intelligence was opposing him, but if Kairen confirmed his existence to the nomads then Ramses would learn about it as well, and pass the information on to whoever might be interested. Kairen was perfectly happy not drawing the attention of slavers who had already killed him once, but it was a risk he had to take.

 Chapter 34: Kairen

    The first two days after starting his plan Kairen didn¡¯t get much reaction from the nomads. As he had expected, the children present were viewed as the likely creators of the crude art. It certainly was a more obvious cause than two dozen intelligent rats acting at the direction of an invisible ghost who controlled the Oasis. The adults responded appropriately given the information they had available. Cleaning up the ground only took minutes, but when it appeared again some adults took the opportunity to let the children know what they thought of their silly joke.


    ¡°You are young. Foolish ideas are expected. What I do not condone is the disrespect you have displayed.¡± Dun lectured the youth that he had managed to corral, having caught them playing in their garden. While elderly, Dun was not an Elder, mostly due to his tendency to act before hearing both sides of any issue he decided to get involved in. The adult nomads managed to avoid him by simply airing their disputes elsewhere or invoking the name of an actual Elder to remind the dodderly grump to mind his own business. The children weren¡¯t so lucky.


    ¡°But we didn¡¯t do it!¡± One outraged youth protested. The outspoken boy might be young, but he had his pride. Being at the oasis meant less time spent walking through the desert, and more time spent playing with their friends. It was also the only place they had ever been that they could swim. Thinking that any of the kids would do something stupid like that was just dumb.


    Smack! Dun¡¯s cane swung out and caught the speaker in his side, hard enough to send him tumbling. ¡°Young people ought to be silent when their elders are speaking. Now where was I? Ah, yes, disrespect. Disrespect is a terrible thing. It shows that you do not understand your proper place in the world, and is caused by either an empty head or an overinflated ego. Fortunately, there is a simple solution to both causes; beat the foolishness out!¡± Once again the cane came up, waving menacingly at the seated children.


    ¡°I am not about to punish the innocent, so those of you responsible can consider yourselves lucky. But mark my words. If this buffoonery happens again I will find the ones who did it, and they. Will. Regret. It.¡± Dun quickly pulled his cane down and used it to catch himself. He had started leaning forwards to emphasize his last sentence, and had gone too far, only barely catching himself from falling. A couple of children had caught his mistake, but quickly schooled their faces to stillness.


    Dun looked around to make sure no one was laughing at him. ¡°Now that I am finished, does anyone have something they want to say?¡± His glare focused on the boy who had interrupted him earlier. A spark still flickered in his eyes, but the child showed wisdom beyond his years and remained silent. With a final harrumph the old man went on his way, mumbling about the failings of the latest generation.


    Kairen was gratified to see that the kids hadn¡¯t taken the tongue lashing too badly. Causing trouble for innocents wasn¡¯t something he wanted to do, but Kairen knew he had to press onwards. If the art persisted even after the adults had made sure that the kids weren¡¯t at fault then it made it more likely that they would start to think of other causes. Kairen helped justify his actions by thinking of the future that lay ahead. A spanking or a few smacks from a cane might be painful, but it couldn¡¯t compare with the soul wrenching agony of having your family slaughtered in front of you, only to have shackles put around your arms to steal away the rest of your long life.


    Shaking his head to clear the morose train of thought, Kairen returned to wandering around the Oasis, meddling with Ramses as he did his best to keep an ear out for any news that might be useful.


    Unfortunately for Kairen¡¯s plans, nature decided to involve itself. Kairen had diligently drawn out another set of arrows and a disapproving face only to be caught by surprise as the guards abandoned their position. There wasn¡¯t much need to defend against monsters when the sands wanted to prove how inhospitable they could be.


    A sandstorm had rolled in, and Kairen was grateful for his intangibility as the world around him slowly darkened. This particular sandstorm had a very gradual edge, one that gave the Nomads plenty of time to prepare. Wrapped head to toe in coverings to keep the sand away, the tribe did their best to lash down loose supplies, cover up openings in the storehouses, and finally to run anchoring ropes between the different tents. It was a precaution necessary out in the sands, where the chaos and blindness that a sandstorm brought could separate a group even if they were huddling down only yards apart. Kairen hoped such measures wouldn¡¯t be necessary in the Oasis, but the old adage of ¡®better safe than sorry¡¯ was likely applicable. There hadn¡¯t been any sandstorms before now, so Kairen couldn¡¯t say for sure he was a safe space against the elements.


    Before he could forget, Kairen pulled open his screen. He had been saving upgrade points to purchase the Oasis size upgrade, but without hesitation he purchased the sandstorm deflection upgrade from the defensive tree. The difference was noticeable. The storm had enough force behind it to still power through, but the air was noticeably lighter inside the Oasis than it was outside the barrier. Even though it was invisible the barrier itself was slowly becoming noticeable. The sand that was repelled usually was deflected elsewhere, but some of it simply dropped, falling to the ground where it began to pile up in a large circle surrounding the Oasis, mirroring the dirt wall that the humans had begun building.


    The sand that made it through the barrier wasn¡¯t as lethal as it would have been but was still enough of a deterrent to keep the nomads confined to their tents and the rats to their burrows. The camels and goats had been given a tent as well, cleared out of anything valuable or able to be easily digested by the goats. Normally the animals would have made a fuss at being confined to such a small space, but they could see and hear the storm outside and were content to wait patiently for it to be over.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    While it did hamper Kairen¡¯s plans, the storm wasn¡¯t entirely a bad thing. Completely immune to the elements, Kairen was able to appreciate the wild beauty in a way that few humans ever had. Despite the reduced visibility caused by clouds of sand blocking out the sun, Kairen could somehow make out enough detail inside the Oasis to get a good picture of what was happening.


    The wind ebbed and swelled, sometimes carrying only the finest articles of sand to polish exposed surfaces smooth, and other times seemingly having lifted up entire sand dunes to deposit on resisting structures. The sand slid off the alchemically enhanced tents the nomads sheltered in, but nothing else was spared. The sandstorm raged for three days, and during that time the meeting hall was first filled and then covered with sand, becoming a mini dune in appearance. The storage buildings had been constructed recessed into the ground and were completely buried, the rippling sand that covered them not even leaving any hint as to their location. The various grasses were pounded flat and then covered with a layer of sand that made the Oasis look like any other stretch of desert, and the few bushes that had started to grow had their leaves violently torn away.


    While the farm outside the Oasis had been left to face the sandstorm without any aid, the plants the children had cultivated weren¡¯t accustomed to such violent weather. A tarp weighted down with rocks kept the worst of the wind away, but it was anyone¡¯s guess as to how the plants would fare under the weight of the sand that now pressed down on them. Kairen saw a few shapes out beyond his boundaries, monsters that reveled in the wild conditions the sandstorm provided. For them, a sandstorm such as this was a source of easy prey that was unable to escape their hungry jaws. None of them seemed strong enough to enter the Oasis, and for that Kairen was grateful. While a small part of him wanted a closer look to see just what mutations and alterations it took to live in a sandstorm, Kairen didn¡¯t want to get that look at the cost of human lives.


    The last sandstorm Kairen had been in had killed him, slowly entombing his body in sand even as he bled out. It was a traumatic experience, and only the delirium of pain prevented him from having clearer memories of what the sandstorm had done to him. Before now Kairen had still carried some of that pain with him, a hatred of the desert that always lurked just outside his conscious thoughts. But as time passed and nothing happened to the intangible boy he could feel himself relaxing. A sandstorm was dangerous, deadly to anyone who hadn¡¯t taken the right precautions. But it wasn¡¯t malevolent, at least not usually. Kairen ignored the existence of sentient storms for the moment and focused on the weather around him. The storm hadn¡¯t been trying to kill him, hadn¡¯t truly cared if he lived or died. It simply was. Much like the desert as a whole, it was harsh, filled with sand and unexpected twists that would catch you by surprise if you weren¡¯t prepared. The fault lay on the person who hadn¡¯t been prepared, not the storm that was simply letting its nature play out. Kairen mused on this truth, even as he took all the emotions he had over his death and began to refine them.


    There was only one thing, one person who could be held responsible for his death. Every ounce of outrage, every inch of indignity, every iota of blackest hatred that Kairen had been bottling up was compressed and focused towards Zar Bloodwake. There, in the middle of the storm, with no one to see or hear him, Kairen swore an oath.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how, I don¡¯t know when, but I will make you pay for the sins you have committed, Zar. Whether by my hand or another¡¯s, one day you will face judgement and know that I am responsible.¡±


    Immediately after he was finished speaking Kairen was glad that the wind had stolen his words. He fully meant to keep his promise of vengeance, but his current situation made doing so difficult, if not close to impossible. Kairen refused to believe it was actually impossible. He was still growing into his new power and was learning what he could do outside the system as well. It might take him years, but Kairen wouldn¡¯t stop searching or pushing his limits until he reached his goal. No matter how improbable the method was, he would follow it to its end if it gave him the revenge he so deeply desired.


    The thought of improbable solutions sparked a strange image in Kairen¡¯s mind. Zar was asleep on his bed, and sitting on his chest was a rat clad in heavy armor, with an appropriately sized sword pointed at the mercenary''s throat. Then the rat spoke with Kairen¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Zar Bloodwake, you killed my maker. Prepare to die.¡±


    The slaver had only a second to wake up and comprehend his fate before he was run through, the sharp blade neatly severing his spine with a single cut.


    Kairen shook his head at the strange places his imagination went, but found himself smiling nonetheless. Not only was it enjoyable to think of Zar dying, but to have his end come at the paws of a lowly rodent was surprisingly fitting. The rats were certainly better company, after all.


    Those same rats were beginning to poke their heads out of their burrows, clearing the entryways of sand as they did so, before ducking back to safety. Kairen wasn¡¯t positive, but he guessed that their willingness to brave the surface was a combination of the storm beginning to die out, along with their natural curiosity and adaptation to desert conditions. Night was beginning to fall and even with the worst of the storm past Kairen realized that the nomads would stay in their tents at least until dawn. All of which provided him with a unique opportunity.


    By now the rats were familiar with Kairen¡¯s requests and it didn¡¯t take long for them to begin working. This time, instead of digging through dirt, the rodents were plowing through the layer of sand that had been left behind by the storm. The softer substance was easily manipulated, and the green grass showed through the gaps the desert rats created. The barrier kept the weakened storm out of the Oasis almost entirely, and the weak wind that made it through didn¡¯t have enough force to undo the efforts of Kairen and his crew of followers. It did move things around enough to erase the tracks the rats were making as they ran about, leaving no clue as to who or what was responsible. Arrow after arrow was produced, and with the guards still taking shelter the rats grew bold, drawing arrows inside the encampment, between tents and along walkways all pointing towards the altar.


    It might have cost him a couple of days¡¯ worth of attempts, but Kairen was very curious as to how the nomads would react to his message this time.

 Chapter 35: Ade

    After being confined to their tents for a few days everyone was eager to get out and socialize, Ade included. There was still work that needed to be done after a sandstorm, but it was communal work, sweeping away the sand that had piled up before it could be tracked inside the otherwise clean tents. A few people headed elsewhere to let the animals out and to take the anchoring cables down before anyone could trip over them, but most people gravitated towards the open area in the middle of the camp where they could slowly work while catching up on gossip and news, mundane as it was.


    At least, that was what people had intended to be doing once the storm was over. The reality was slightly different.


    ¡°You¡¯re being too soft on those whelps! One of them did it, and I¡¯ll have answers out of them! No respect these days, but a few strokes should fix that!¡±


    Ade rubbed his temples to try and ward off the developing headache. Even if he couldn¡¯t see the cantankerous meddler, Dun¡¯s voice had a way of carrying. Most of the time it served as a useful signal to warn others to avoid the area, but that simply wasn¡¯t possible this time. Sighing once more for good measure, Ade pressed his way through the spectators, heading towards the spot where Dun was arguing with the assembled Elders.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already explained this to you, Dun. Every single parent has confirmed that their children were inside the entire time. How exactly do you think that a young child could undo the bindings keeping the tent sealed, make their way through a sandstorm where they wouldn¡¯t be able to see their hands in front of their face, draw enough arrows to cover most of the Oasis without the storm erasing them, and then somehow sneak back inside their tent, all without their parents spotting them missing?¡± Elder Arun asked wearily. The last question had been rhetorical but seeing that the stubborn man intended to answer it anyways Arun quickly cut him off.


    ¡°I see that Pathfinder Ade has returned from his quick scouting expedition with new information for us. Thank you for your time, Dun, I will be sure to let you know if we have need of your particular expertise.¡± He gave a short nod before turning his body to focus fully on Ade, cutting Dun out of the upcoming conversation before he could try and involve himself. Recognizing the move for the dismissal it was, Dun walked off muttering unintelligibly under his breath.


    ¡°Now then, Pathfinder Ade. What did you find on your scouting trip?¡±


    For appearance more than anything else Ade took a moment to gather his thoughts. The elders had tasked him with circling around the Oasis, seeing if he could spot any signs of people coming or going, or anything else unusual. Left unsaid was that everyone knew what was likely responsible for the arrows, they just wanted to make sure that everyone in the tribe could be convinced and in agreement before the nomads as a group decided on their response.


    Ade projected his voice while giving his report, intentionally allowing the onlookers to hear what he had to say. ¡°There were no signs of anyone entering or leaving the Oasis during the storm. The Wild was a bit closer to the Oasis than it normally is, but it''s closer everywhere, not just in a single location that would indicate someone exiting or entering the Shifting Sands. Only other thing I noticed was that a good amount of sand has built up at the edge of the Oasis making a large circle.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your report, Pathfinder Ade.¡± Elder Gomer preempted any whispering from the audience. "I think it¡¯s quite clear that neither the children nor some mysterious strangers out in the Sands are responsible for the arrows left on the ground. Does anyone else have any other suggestions as to who might be responsible?¡±


    ¡°Could be the mage, doing something funny to mess with us.¡± Someone towards the back suggested. The rest of the nomads made it clear his idea was clearly a minority position, but the elders were willing to address it all the same.


    ¡°Possible, but highly unlikely. Ramses has shown himself to be a rather lazy individual, taking every chance he can to sit around and do nothing. The walls and foundation he¡¯s set up are the bare minimum I would expect from an earth mage, and every single time he has practically been standing on the area he wished to affect. It¡¯s possible he¡¯s simply playing a convoluted trick on us all, but that still wouldn¡¯t account for everything that has happened before Ramses arrived.¡± Gomer laid out the counter argument clearly. It was true that Ramses was a lazy stranger they didn¡¯t know much about, but no one present thought he was the sort of character to really invest himself in the levels of intrigue necessary to accomplish everything that had been happening. And, as Elder Gomer said, strange things had started long before the mage had made an appearance.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°The Oasis.¡± It wasn¡¯t any single person who brought up the idea this time, but several, all murmuring in agreement. It was one thing to hear of the blessings that the established cities experienced, to know factually that they all drew a good portion of their power from their control of magical pools of water. It was another thing entirely to see one of those selfsame Oases evolve over time, growing in size and in power as the days went by. Clearly there was some source driving all the changes, and the latest changes hinted that whatever controlled the growth might be intelligent enough to leave a warning for the nomads.


    Gomer waited a bit for the whispered conversation to die down. ¡°None of us Elders know just what makes certain places like this oasis magical. If the cities know then it is a secret they keep to themselves. Perhaps Ing is responsible for blessing her Great Temple, perhaps all or none of the Oases owe their power to her influence. We do not know. It is not knowledge that we remember, that our tribe passes down from generation to generation. We cannot rely on history to show us the correct path forwards in this situation.¡±


    Before his admittance of ignorance could really sink in, Elder Gomer continued with his speech. ¡°That is not to say we are blind fools cluelessly stumbling forwards. We Elders do have working eyes and ears, despite what some rumors might imply. We¡¯ve seen the Oasis grow in front of our eyes, we¡¯ve heard of it keeping monsters and now the sandstorm at bay. The Oasis has not been a danger to us. We don¡¯t know what message the arrows and face are meant to convey. We have guesses, like many of you do, but nothing to back those guesses up. Soon we will find the time to talk with everyone to hear your input and ideas as we try and figure out what is happening. We will make ourselves available to hear your concerns, and do our best to prepare everyone for whatever is going on. But there is one thing we wish to do first.¡±


    Elder Gomer began to walk, followed by the other elders. ¡°The Oasis has made an effort to get our attention. We shall let it know that it has it.¡±


    It was a slow procession that made its way towards the pool, following the multitude of arrows that pointed the way forwards. The pool itself was completely sand free, whatever magic present that removed debris more than capable of handling the large amounts of sand that had been dumped there by the storm. The sight was somewhat surreal, a perfectly clear pool of water surrounded by sand as afar as the eye could see. Even the altar had been buried under a layer of sand, and it was with careful movements that the elders brushed it off.


    ¡°Spirit of the Oasis, we come before you. We know not why you have left us with these markings on the ground, why you are unhappy, but we are listening. You have given us much, let us help you in any way we can.¡±


    No sooner did the Elder finish his prayer than the world began to shake. It was not an earthquake, but a softer swaying, a rippling of space and energy that pulsed outwards. Somehow the sand covering the ground seemed to vanish, seeping downwards into what should have been solid soil. The effect was even more pronounced when the wave hit the edge of the Oasis. Instead of stopping or petering out in built up momentum, transforming sand into dirt entirely before a thick layer of grass appeared to cover the expanded area.


    A quick check showed that the expansion had stopped short of the desert farm, not that it mattered all that much. With their eventual departure, the nomads would be content to harvest what they could and then simply leave the rest where it lay.


    ¡°I suppose that works as a yes.¡± Elder Mu commented dryly. ¡°It¡¯s nice to know the Oasis can hear and respond to us, even if it can¡¯t tell us what exactly it wants us to do.¡± Raising his voice, the Elder addressed the gaping tribe, who were still taking in the changes. "Everyone, I would ask that you keep your eyes and your mind open. If you see anything unusual or noteworthy let us know."


    After a quick round of assent the nomads began to disperse, their morning plans of cleaning thoroughly disrupted. Ade made his way back to his tent to think on what he had just seen, only to have his shoulder caught from behind. Ramses the mage stood there, still yawning sleepily and wearing his night clothes. He had obviously been woken up by the commotion and had stumbled outside to see what had happened.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± The lazy mage yawned. ¡°What did I just miss?¡± While Ade struggled to find the right words Ramses blinked a few times, slowly processing what he was seeing.


    ¡°Whoa. Nice job cleaning this place up!¡±


    Ade sighed. This might take a while.

 Chapter 36: Ade

    Ade wasn¡¯t completely sure that Ramses believed his explanation about the Oasis spirit and the message it was trying to convey to the Nomads. Which was understandable, if somewhat frustrating. The training required to become a mage involved learning a large amount of magical theory, some of which stated certain magical phenomena couldn''t naturally occur. If Ramses had been more awake Ade was positive the foreign mage would have done more than roll his eyes in disbelief at the explanation, but fortunately for Ade¡¯s sanity the worst he received was a dismissive snort.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Ramses asked. ¡°A few lines drawn in the sand and you vagrants start losing your minds. Now unless work has been canceled for the day, I have places to be and magic to cast. Those buildings won¡¯t make themselves, especially given the magical nature of the terrain.¡±


    Finished speaking the mage set off before Ade could respond to either his insult or his question. Making a rude gesture behind Ramses'' back might not have improved relations if the mage had seen it, but it did help improve Ade¡¯s rotten mood. Being stuck in a tent for long periods of time always had him on edge. Normally the tribe would be preparing to move out, and Ade would at least get to enjoy traveling or even solitary scouting, but he was stuck at the Oasis for the moment. The tribe was beginning to pack up in preparation of leaving when Pathfinder Ahten returned, but with no way of knowing when that would be they didn¡¯t want to sanction any trips elsewhere, even short ones.


    Ade was still tempted to simply head off into the nearby Sands for some training, staying close enough to the Oasis that he could quickly return if needed, but he couldn¡¯t quite convince himself it was the best use of his time. He had utilized his Pathfinding skills almost constantly over the past month. While more practice wouldn¡¯t hurt, it was hard to argue that it was more important than helping harvest the vegetables and other plants from the farms or helping pack up the resources he had helped find into more travel convenient containers. Large piles of ore might make sense in a stationary environment, but not when it needed to be carted from one stop to the next. Someone needed to calculate how much ore was needed, and then bags or crates needed to be found before being loaded up with the richest samples. Some parts of that process required a certain level of expertise, but for the most part any adult capable of lifting heavy objects could help out.


    Not wanting to spend the day hauling rocks around, Ade made his way out of the Oasis over towards the farm, or at least to the place it had been. Without the protections that the Oasis provided everything was buried under a thick layer of sand. Fortunately, that state of being wasn¡¯t hazardous to the plants in question. Some of the plants would simply wait for the wind to carry the sand away and return the desert to its original state, while others managed to free themselves, either by growing upwards towards the new surface or by somehow displacing enough sand to clear the area around them. The latter were quickly plucked from the ground and put aside for Healer Elan to dry or otherwise render down into useful ingredients. For everything else, there was a pile of shovels.


    It was hot and sweaty work. The desert dwelling plants had been spread out over a large area to avoid any interference during watering sessions. While it meant that the nomads hadn¡¯t had to worry about any plants choking the life out of their neighbors, it now meant that they had a lot of sand to move to recover anything useful. It didn''t take long for those digging to decide that the five-day beans did not qualify as useful.


    The only thing that made the work tolerable was the presence of the Oasis. While water taken out of the Oasis quickly lost the magic that kept the pool clean, it wasn¡¯t any less refreshing. Full water bottles helped keep everyone hydrated and energetic, and when the heat became unbearable no one commented when a worker would slip off to splash around in the pond for a few minutes.


    It was easy to get lost in the simple work, and before Ade knew it dusk had fallen. Satisfied with their progress for the day everyone made their way back to the camp, eager to eat whatever meal the cooks had spent their time preparing. With full plates, everyone began chatting and swapping stories.


    ¡°You should have seen the look on his face when we suggested moving the walls out to the new edge of the Oasis.¡± A nomad who had been working on the building team was currently taking center stage. ¡°He didn¡¯t say anything, but you could see Ramses¡¯ left eye start to twitch at the idea of starting all over because the Oasis decided to grow some.¡±


    ¡°What did he end up saying again? ¡®This is close enough to the new boundary, and it¡¯s not like the Oasis grows all that quickly. Someone else can build another set of walls a decade down the line.¡¯¡± A few people chuckled at the exaggerated attempt at replicating Ramses'' accent.


    The mage looked up from his own meal. ¡°If you¡¯re going to mock me at least use my actual words. I said that if you thought a few feet of grass outside the walls was such a problem, you should go ahead and build another wall yourself. I¡¯ve already done the job I was hired to do.¡±


    That response quickly shut the topic of conversation down, and after an awkward silence everyone began discussing where the tribe would head next. The general consensus was that a long stop at a city was bound to happen relatively quickly, in order to turn the gold and other valuables the tribe had received as payment into a more useful form. Some people argued that everyone would quickly head over to Luxor to purchase supplies, with it being the closest city, while others argued on travelling between villages to eventually reach a city that hadn¡¯t heard of the Oasis and its sale. Merchants were far more likely to try and overcharge their customers if they knew that a customer had the wealth to fleece away.


    The emotions Ade felt as he listened to the conversation and occasionally contributed his own opinion as a Pathfinder were bittersweet and surprisingly complex. He was happy that everyone was taking the sudden change in plans with good humor, but he was also resentful that people weren¡¯t more attached to the Oasis. There was more emotion towards the move that Ade held, but it was harder to tease them out of the whirling pit of his heart. Promising to pry them apart later, he did his best to answer the most recent question that had been posed to him.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Most traffic goes through the major cities because they are the only places guaranteed to have pathfinders who can guide you further on towards your actual destination. Look.¡± Ade grabbed a stick and sketched a crude map in the ground, a couple of large dots with lines radiating out from them, connecting each other in a spiky web.


    ¡°Right now, this Oasis is a new location, so there¡¯s no guarantee that a Pathfinder would be able to get you here. Knowing that it exists gives them a chance, but they could just as easily end up taking you to another oasis, or put you on a path that takes months to arrive. Each city keeps a list of places that its local Pathfinders can navigate to. This includes most of the cities that are a short distance away, a few cities that are a longer distance away, and then a lot of the small settlements located nearby. So when someone asks to travel to Ashwan, for example, they¡¯d ask to look at the list kept in the merchants¡¯ guild or the Pathfinder office or whatever other organization has purchased a copy, and then they figure out what cities can reach Ashwan, and what cities can reach those cities, and so on until they have a route with a guaranteed Pathfinder at every stop that can get them one step closer to their destination. It¡¯s not perfect, Pathfinders might be out on another journey, or they might die so it might take months to track down the one Pathfinder who can lead you to dirt crack, but you can usually get there. That¡¯s the way things usually work, and none of that holds true for us.¡± There''s a fair amount of elbow nudging as Ade begins his rebuttal for why they would have to stop at Luxor first.


    ¡°The Pathfinder network is handy when you need to hire a Pathfinder to take you to a specific location. Our tribe has access to five Pathfinders, two of which can freely navigate the Sands and we don¡¯t need to head to any specific city to buy goods. Sure, we might get better deals on iron wares at Rojore, and I¡¯m sure no one would object if we found ourselves at the Temple of Ing for one reason or another, but we don¡¯t need to head for a specific city. In fact, by keeping our options open and heading to any city that isn¡¯t Luxor we might end up having a shorter trip across the Sands. Does that answer your question?¡± Ade could have gone on further, but felt like he had made his point and then scored a few extra while he was at it. The miner took it in stride though and gave a cheerful nod.


    ¡°Guess that¡¯s why you¡¯re the Pathfinder and I hit rocks for a living.¡± He joked cheerily.


    ¡°Nah. Be honest with yourself Gen. You¡¯re not smart enough to find the right rocks so you just pound sand.¡± A friend of Gen¡¯s ribbed him.


    ¡°Jeth! I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d given your wife a new nickname!¡± Gen exclaimed in mock surprise. ¡°I guess ¡®Sand¡¯ was too busy moaning to tell me herself.¡± Everyone laughed at the witty response. A tip of Jeth¡¯s cup acknowledged the verbal hit and the conversation moved onwards, but the good mood and light humor remained for the rest of the night.


    Everyone was up slightly earlier than usual the next day, curious as to what the next message from the Oasis would be. The arrows had served their purpose, and instead of trying to draw their attention the Spirit had focused on creating a complex piece of work next to its altar. Unfortunately, complex didn¡¯t mean easily understood.


    ¡°Can we at least agree that this is meant to be a person?¡± Kane, Navigator in training, argued. His friend Amy took great pleasure in contradicting him.


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t. Yet, it looks like a stick figure from that perspective, but I still think you¡¯re looking at everything upside down. Look, from this angle you have a ¡®t¡¯, and an ¡®o¡¯, and this squiggle here could be an ¡®s¡¯. If we assume that these are words the Oasis hasn¡¯t managed to complete yet then that would make your person the letters o, t, and c, which is clearly part of a larger word. Scotch maybe. That¡¯s a drink right? Does the spirit want scotch to drink?¡±


    Kane growled as Amy began to wander off on a tangent, and forced the conversation back on topic. ¡°If the spirit knows how to write, why did it waste all this time drawing arrows instead of just marking out a single word? Listen, stop, danger; there¡¯s lots of words that don¡¯t need large amounts of context to make sense. And where would a spirit even learn to read and write? Drawing pictures is obvious enough that anyone with half a brain could figure it out.¡±


    ¡°At least words only can be read one way. Yes, we know that the spirit exists and is unhappy. You have people who think the spirit is unhappy that we¡¯re leaving, or is unhappy because we¡¯re building all over the Oasis, or is unhappy that we¡¯ve been drinking the water instead of leaving it for the wild animals. Each and every one of them has their own idea firmly fixed in their mind, and these drawings aren¡¯t going to change any of that. It¡¯s just too easy for everyone to interpret them in a way that supports the beliefs they already had. It makes me glad I¡¯m not an elder who has to figure out what exactly is the right thing to do. No matter what they decide someone is going to be unhappy with the outcome.¡± Amy nodded firmly, not quite conceding that Kane had made a good point.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Kane responded easily. ¡°Even I know the answer to that one. If the decision is that difficult to make the only thing to do is to push the decision back. They can give themselves another couple days to work with by making a public show of asking the Oasis to give them more information to work with. Simpler pictures, perhaps. If the spirit keeps on drawing the same thing then they can make a decision after giving everyone a few days to calm down, instead of picking a side now when everyone is ready to argue.¡±


    ¡°Cheater.¡± Amy muttered a few minutes later. ¡°Ade, tell Kane that he¡¯s a cheating cheater who cheats.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that he is, Amy.¡± Ade replied, not wanting to be drawn into the friendly bickering. The situation had played out much like Kane had predicted. Unable to come to a consensus even amongst themselves the Elders had asked for a simpler message before shooing everyone away to begin their work for the day. A few people had stayed to clean up the ground and see if there would be an immediate response, but nothing seemed to be happening.


    ¡°He was supposed to pick a meaning for the symbols. Then we would find out if he was right or wrong, and I could laugh at him or praise him. Not this silly ¡®I decide I won¡¯t decide¡¯ business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure if you keep reminding him he¡¯ll come to a decision sooner or later.¡± Ade kept his tone even. Kane sent a betrayed look at Ade for refocusing Amy¡¯s attention on him, and Ade took the opportunity to part ways with the pair of Navigators, ready to work and curious as to what would happen next with the Oasis.

 Chapter 37: Kairen

    Time was running out.


    Kairen had been so happy that first morning after the storm. It wasn¡¯t just a single person who acknowledged his existence, but the whole tribe made an effort to pay attention to him and to what he was trying to say. Even if they couldn¡¯t see or hear him, they were giving him the attention he had been missing for the last few months. Kairen had spent most of the day floating around in a happy daze, feeling sparks of joy every time a nomad decided to talk with a friend about what was happening.


    Working with the rats that night quickly brought Kairen back to reality. He had been able to convey the concepts of the arrow and the frowning face easily enough, and days of practicing had honed the rats¡¯ skills to the point they could easily draw quite legible arrows. That skill did not extend to any of the other shapes Kairen wanted them to work on.


    The rats definitely did not understand the words Kairen was speaking. For most sentences they understood the gist of what he was saying and that was sufficient for them to follow through with his commands, but the specific detail necessary for Kairen¡¯s plan to work simply didn¡¯t translate. Kairen¡¯s first attempt at having a rat draw a curved line had led to the rodent drawing an arrow where he indicated, before looking towards him for approval.


    ¡°Good job, Epsilon.¡± Kairen sighed after checking the markings on the rat¡¯s back. He let Epsilon scamper away to take care of its own business while Kairen sat down and rethought his plans. The rats had done an amazing job of learning to draw arrows with minimal instruction from Kairen. Unfortunately, Kairen had no way to explain that he wanted them to do things differently now. He could still micromanage a rat or two, guiding them inch by inch as they drew out shapes, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to direct them to work on an are independently without things going wrong. Kairen was sure he could eventually break the rats of their arrow habit, but it would take time, time that he wasn¡¯t sure he had.


    In the end Kairen simply sent the majority of the rats on their way. Hopefully, a day or two of not digging out arrows would help distance his next task for them in their memories, but Kairen wasn¡¯t optimistic about that outcome.


    Instead, he focused his attention on Alpha and Gamma and got work directing them to carefully mark out and dig specific sections. By the time Dawn arrived the art was finished, the rats were exhausted, and Kairen¡¯s frustration levels had reached a boiling point.


    The nomads¡¯ confusion over what he was trying to tell them was simply the spark that lit the bonfire. If any of the rats had been out and about instead of sleeping, Kairen¡¯s rampage would have terrified them into hiding in their den until he calmed down. Instead Kairen was forced to vent his anger on an empty world that he couldn¡¯t even affect. Screaming as loudly as possible, Kairen stormed into the pool where he began to pound his fists into the water. There wasn¡¯t any satisfying splashing of water flying everywhere, but the tactile sensation of his fists pushing against water did help ground him, helped remind him that there was more to his existence than just his emotions.


    Thoroughly spent, Kairen spent the rest of the day alternating between napping and sulking in abandoned corners of the Oasis, not wanting to interact with the poor guessers if he could avoid it.


    Kairen had some more success the following night. Between resting and calming down emotionally he put some thought as to what message he wanted to convey, now that he had a better idea of his artistic limitations and the intuitive abilities of his target audience. It wasn¡¯t that the nomads were dumb, they simply didn¡¯t have the context needed to make the connections that Kairen had wanted them to. Kairen was simply a mysterious spirit to them, and as far as the nomads were concerned his possible motivations ranged from protecting animals to needing ritual sex observed in his name. While Kairen wasn¡¯t opposed to the latter, he did note that the primary proponents of such a plan were the young unmarried men and older boys, not anyone with any real clout in the tribe.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    With the need to keep his message as simple and as unambiguous as possible Kairen tossed away the details of his warning. He could try and clue the nomads into the act that Zar was a threat later if he had time. His first goal was to simply warn them that they needed to be ready to fight.


    Instead of drawing multiple symbols, Kairen focused his efforts on a scaled-up version of a single symbol. An axe crossing blades with a sword. The larger image took the rats longer to draw, but it allowed for details to be made far more easily. If the nomads made the connection between the axe Kairen had drawn and the one Zar carried around Kairen would be ecstatic, but he would settle for getting a simpler warning across for the moment.


    Having only a single image to argue over worked. Not quite as well as Kairen wanted, but starting that afternoon the guards were scheduled to double their practice time and keep their weapons always at hand. Unfortunately, there was enough support for alternate interpretations of what Kairen wanted that a few weapons were gifted to him at the altar, before being tossed into the pond. The weapons weren¡¯t messy enough to count as dirt, but his magic wore away at them all the same. It would take a day or two, but the weapons would vanish eventually. While Kairen was grateful for the additional upgrade points he received from the offerings he wished he could retrieve the weapons and give them back to the nomads. A missing spear didn¡¯t help anyone, not when you needed it to keep a mercenary from charging you and ripping your guts out.


    Unfortunately for Kairen¡¯s plan to expand on his warning, several of the nomads had become curious as to how the warnings were being carved into the dirt. Instead of going to bed at a proper time like normal people, or even staying at the camp and keeping an eye out like the guards, the idiots had set up a small fire near the altar where they could keep a midnight vigil to spot the carvings as soon as they were formed. Of course, having humans clearly visible nearby made it impossible for Kairen to convince the rats to actually work for him. It took two days of no messages and missing sleep before the eager nomads gave up their self-appointed mission, time which Kairen desperately wished he could recover.


    The time wasn¡¯t completely wasted, as Kairen did his best to interfere with the magic Ramses was casting. His efforts at irritating Ramses and somehow having the nomads see his dislike of the mage hadn¡¯t really paid off. While it definitely took Ramses more effort to cast his spells every time Kairen came around, the mage¡¯s ready-made explanation for the fluctuating difficulty and the nomads lack of magical education meant that no one really questioned the oddities involved. That didn¡¯t mean Kairen was about to stop. Even if the mage was working on building small houses now instead of the chest high wall, Kairen still took pleasure in seeing Ramses sweat and grimace as he tried to complete his spells.


    Despite the pleasant diversion Kairen was more than ready to switch focuses back towards writing out messages once the observers retired from their duty. With the nomads knowing that a fight was coming, Kairen did his best to warn them who their enemy was. It was a slow process. At first the nomads believed he was giving them a completely new message due to the gap in drawing anything, and didn¡¯t put the effort in to associate his representation of Zar with the weapons he had previously displayed.


    Correcting that mistake took another night, and even then most people didn¡¯t think it was Zar he was referring to. They at least got the message that they would be fighting people when the time came, but missed the clues he had planted towards Zar''s identity.


    At least they didn''t go ahead with the gladiatorial combat idea.

 Chapter 38: Ade

    The storehouses were empty, the farms were deconstructed, all of the water barrels and jugs were filled to the brim, and the focus of work had switched from taking care of things necessary to leave, to tasks that were nice to have completed but not essential. Primarily that meant washing. While the tents carried around had their own flooring, the rugs and other coverings that made them comfortable still accumulated large amounts of sand and dust as the nomads travelled around the desert. While a few families gambled on dunking their rugs just long enough to evaporate the dirt but not the rug, most of the women and children were busy hauling buckets of water out and splashing them over the rugs currently being worked on, before scrubbing vigorously to work out sand that was stuck until the next bucket of water arrived.


    What could have been a boring task had picked up a festive atmosphere as the unusual chore had slowly evolved into a game. Without having to worry about conserving water no one minded the occasional splash or spill, and as the day grew hotter those accidents began to be anticipated, even engineered. At that point it was simply a matter of time before an ongoing water fight broke out. The grandmothers exercised their authority just enough to keep everyone working, but buckets of water were tossed onto the rug with the scrubbers kneeling in the line of fire, and handfuls of dirty water were picked up and flicked back in retaliation.


    While the tomfoolery was a pleasant distraction from work, it was also a distraction from the revelations that were hanging over the heads of the nomads.


    The Oasis did not like Zar Bloodwake.


    That much had been made especially clear, even confirmed by the Oasis further expanding in response when pressed on the issue. What worried the nomads was why. It had taken this long for the Oasis to convey the target of its displeasure, and Ahten was due back any day now with Zar and anyone he hired. The complex issue of why would take far longer to tease out than that short timeframe, and the leaders of the tribe were forced to make decisions based on their best guesses guided by half legible drawings and their own impressions of the man.


    The most common consensus was that Zar was the sort of person to plan a betrayal of one type or another, and the Oasis somehow managed to judge his character and pass a warning along. The problem was that there was only so much that the nomads could do with that warning. They had already received a large amount of treasure as payment for the Oasis, and it would have been easy for them to simply pack up and leave before Zar returned, without Ahten present the tribe would have to split up into smaller groups that the Pathfinders in training could manage, but it would be easy enough to arrange to regroup at another city or settlement where they could wait for Ahten to finish acting as Zar¡¯s Pathfinder.


    It was a good idea in theory, but had a major flaw that meant it failed to gather any significant support. If Zar was the sort of immoral man that was worth fleeing the Oasis to avoid, then he was also the sort of person who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill if his scheme was foiled. Pathfinder Ahten was an unwitting hostage, and as long as he was close enough to Zar to be in danger Ade refused to leave. A few of the adults tried to convince him otherwise, arguing that there wasn¡¯t really any harm to be had, but Elder Gomer quickly put a stop to that.


    ¡°If Zar is not the threat the Oasis fears, then the outcomes are good if we stay or if we leave early. If Zar is an oathbreaker and a betrayer, then stay or leave he is in a position to harm our tribe. I for one am not willing to make a choice that sacrifices anyone for the good of all.¡±


    While the nomads valued both individual and collective strength they despised arrogance. Any individual trying to survive out in the sands would eventually run afoul of some monster or hazard they were unable to handle. It was only by working together and covering for each other¡¯s weaknesses that the nomads were able to live in the Sands. Every member of the tribe had value in one form or another, and to imply that one person had less value than another was mildly taboo. By framing the decision as he had Elder Gomer shut down the option of leaving before it could gather any momentum.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Fighting had also been discussed. Ade still wasn¡¯t sure if the Oasis was warning them that Zar wanted to fight, or if it wanted them ready to fight, or if the weapons it drew had merely been part of its attempt to identify Zar. No one was, and even the nomads who firmly believed that Zar was going to betray them weren¡¯t about to suggest a pre-emptive fight. Having weapons on hand and positioning everyone to keep the women and children safe was an easy adjustment to push for. Attacking others in cold blood was a much harder task to ask the relatively innocent tribesmen to do.


    The threat was muddied by the sterling reputation that Zar had in the city of Luxor. The Elders had only been there a short period of time, but everything they had heard about the man had painted him as an excellent silver rank adventurer who went out of his way to help smaller communities struggling with monsters. He didn¡¯t get drunk, didn¡¯t involve himself in bar fights, and while everyone admitted that he might seem bloodthirsty at times, including his choice of appellation, he actually hadn¡¯t done anything deserving of censure.


    Zar¡¯s aggressive negotiations served as a small counterpoint, given the heavy undertone of threat present. The implication that Zar could defeat half the guards was dissected and weighed in context as either an innocent comparison of strength or a blatant threat backed by pointing out the inability of the nomads to stop him from simply taking what he wanted. It was galling to admit, but the mercenary adventurer had a point. The tribe had never put an emphasis on fighting monsters. The sheer variety and strength of the beasts and magical beings present in the Sands made that a losing proposition in the long term. It was a high risk, high reward endeavor that paid off for individuals who managed to survive. Avoiding said monsters was a far safer strategy, and one the tribe¡¯s Pathfinders were happy to help accomplish. From constantly working to stay on the edges of the Sands to having a willingness to turn around and head elsewhere if danger was spotted ahead the nomads managed to stay alive in an environment that killed half of all novice adventurers in their first year. The only downside was that the fighters in the tribe weren¡¯t as strong as they could have been were they constantly challenging themselves against monsters.


    Still even if Zar likely could defeat half the fighters in the tribe in a fair fight, that didn¡¯t mean he was looking for one, or that the nomads were obligated to give him such a fight if hostilities did occur. In the precautionary strategy talks that had taken place, the name of the game was disengaging. From making sure that there were multiple paths leading from the Oasis out into the Sands that were free of obstructions, to arming every member of the tribe with a weapon, even one as simple as a sling, those with a martial bent did their best to arrange the theoretical battlefield as much in their favor as they could. Zar might be able to take on fifteen or sixteen guards by himself, but thirty guards backed up by another fifty or sixty individuals all throwing stones or sling bullets was a different equation entirely.


    That wasn¡¯t to say that the guards were idle or content with their current level of skill. The presence of a potential threat to the tribe motivated them to push harder than ever before during their training, and the magic of the Oasis combined with the short walls that Ramses had conjured meant that the guards¡¯ defensive duties were relaxed, giving them plenty of time to practice. Some skills and capabilities only came to light during actual combat, be it against monsters or men, but that didn¡¯t stop the fighters from pushing to improve their physical capabilities or participating in practice spars to familiarize themselves with armed combat. The monsters in the sands had a certain animal cunning, but it couldn¡¯t compare to actual intelligence guiding the actions of an opponent. Holes in defenses or overly aggressive attacks were quickly taken advantage of, even if erasing their presence from habit would take longer than the guards had.


    Twelve days after Zar and Pathfinder Ahten had left, the watchmen spotted travelers approaching from the Sands.

 Chapter 39: Ade

    The background tension that had been building over the last week spiked to a sudden peak. No matter what arguments one believed were real or not, this was the moment of truth. The time for debate was over. Slowly the dust cloud marking the presence of travelers approached, and from the front of it emerged familiar faces.


    Adventurer Zar, still riding his magnificent horse, the light gleaming off his numerous jewels making him easy to pick out at a distance. Pathfinder Ahten next to him, identifiable as one of the few old men present in the Sands and one whose shape was familiar to the waiting tribe. Next to them a third person one was visible, it was less obvious at first, but most realized it was the one-handed servant, his disability forcing him to handle his camel in a unique manner that made identifying him possible. Behind them the dust cloud continued to rise, suggesting a large number of people, and more than one hand reached down to grip a carried weapon for some small reassurance. Silver rank adventures were rare, but enough enemies of lesser skill was still a problem worth worrying about.


    As the cloud drew closer figures became visible inside, each one striking the ground hard with each foot they brought down as they marched along. Their angry dispositions were clear for the world to see. Their eyes glared with concealed menace, and their teeth were bared aggressively. Even with all that the sight of them did wonders for easing the nomads¡¯ worries.


    Camels. Trains of camels, all heavily burdened with supplies were the main cause of the moving dust cloud. Despite their large packs they moved quickly, urged onwards by teams of tenders that marched alongside, keeping the procession moving forwards and preventing any accidents from occurring. Most of their focus was on the two sledges each being pulled by six camels. Dragging the sledges wasn¡¯t as efficient as simply carrying the goods, but it allowed for the transportation of objects or materials too large or cumbersome to be loaded onto a single camel. In this case the sledges carried large amounts of wood pre-cut into planks for construction purposes. It represented a large financial investment, albeit one that Zar could clearly afford.


    More evidence of that wealth came in the form of the people travelling with the caravan. While some were covering the relatively menial task of guiding the camels, all were wearing quality clothes that provided adequate protection from the desert. There weren¡¯t any women or children present, a detail that worried the nomads slightly. They knew that most people did not have the practical experience that their tribe did in traversing the Sands, and that the currently undeveloped Oasis would not offer an easy existence until amenities could be built up and manned. Children would simply get in the way and while there were some tasks involved in early construction that anyone could handle, the additional strength that men brought made them better candidates for hiring as workers. It wasn¡¯t that they expected entire families to be brought along; there were plenty of good reasons that only men were present. There were, however, no good reasons to bring obvious non-combatants along if Zar and his people were expecting a fight. It was a small distinction, but one that the Elders latched onto as they tried to figure out what course of action to take.


    ¡°That¡¯s a far larger group than I expected him to be able to gather, especially in such a short period of time.¡± Gomer muttered under his breath, soft enough that only the other Elders standing next to him could hear.


    ¡°We had heard he had connections, both in Luxor and in some other cities. Unlike us he can convince others to work with him to develop the Oasis. Also, it¡¯s a lot easier to hire workers than it is fighters.¡± Elder Shan answered, carefully inspecting the caravan.


    ¡°Not that he didn¡¯t hire quite a few of them.¡± Elder Zin added his own thoughts. ¡°There¡¯s quite a few weapons I can spot, and all of them are sitting comfortably on their owners. Doesn¡¯t tell us how good they are with those swords, but it isn¡¯t their first time carrying them. I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not ideal, but attacking us is hardly the only reason to bring fighters along. They were probably needed to defend the caravan while they travelled here, and the walls Ramses is building might keep monsters out, but guards will still be needed to kill them.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still a bit too far away, but it seems like Pathfinder Ahten is comfortable at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your insights, Elders.¡± Elder Gomer cut the discussion short. ¡°Zar and his people will be arriving here shortly, what plan are we choosing to follow? Do we fight, do we stay, or do we run?¡±


    ¡°Stay.¡± Zin immediately replied. ¡°Fighting is the foolish choice, and a path we should only take if forced into it. With that said it doesn¡¯t look like they are interested in being the aggressor either, and it will take some time to finalize the deal and handle the final details of our travel plans.¡±


    ¡°Run.¡± Mu gave his vote. ¡°If we start now we can have everyone halfway into the Sands by the time Pathfinder Ahten arrives. A couple of us elders can stay behind to finish those details you mentioned and if anything goes wrong everyone else would be able to escape before being caught.¡±


    Every elder took their turn, giving their vote and a short explanation of their reasoning. Elder Arun was the last to offer his opinion.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Stay.¡± He said firmly. A quick shrug was his only response to looks asking for more detail. As far as he was concerned, everything that needed to be said already had, and no one else remained to try and sway to one side or another.


    None of the elders were willing to commit the tribe to a fight. Beyond the fact that none of them were in any shape to be the ones fighting, the composition of the caravan had relaxed their worries enough that they didn''t think a fight was inevitable. The warnings the Oasis had given them still had them on edge, but not enough to risk a pre-emptive strike. Between running immediately and staying long enough to finalize details and avoid giving offense was a far more even split. Although Gomer had presented it as a binary choice between two plans, the reality was that there was a spectrum of how much the Elders trusted Zar and how long they were willing to risk staying.


    ¡°Four to three in favor of staying long enough to not look suspicious or mistrustful of Zar. I understand and agree with the arguments for keeping our distance, and if I could guarantee that this was the last time we would need to interact with Zar or travel to this Oasis I would agree with your position. However, sources of abundant water are not so common in the Sands that I am willing to give one up simply due to premonition or misplaced fear. No matter how quickly Zar builds it will be a long time before the potential of this Oasis is fully utilized, time where we can freely restock our water supplies, or at least do so for a lower cost than any other settlement would charge us. A good relationship might be the difference between life or death in the future, and I believe that pursuing such a relationship is worth a small gamble of faith.¡±


    With their discussion complete, Elders Mu and Jero split from the group to pass word of the decision around, while the rest of the Elders joined by Ade and Healer Elan made their way to greet the newcomers.


    ¡°Grandfather! We weren¡¯t expecting you back for a while yet!¡± Ade took the chance to find out what had transpired from his mentor¡¯s point of view.


    ¡°We made excellent time travelling to Luxor. All of us were mounted, and with Zar willing and able to fight off monsters we went deeper into the Sands than I would have otherwise. Three days of travel brought us back to Luxor, just in time to avoid getting trapped out in the Sands by a large sandstorm. It still forced us to shelter inside the city for a few days, but I used the time to catch up with Mel and Zar was able to magically send messages to people he knew around the city. They couldn¡¯t do much in terms of gathering supplies or hiring people, but having a plan in place meant that once the storm abated it only took a few days for everything to be gathered together.


    The large group meant a slower journey back, but with all these camels to carry supplies and with only fit adults to worry about we kept up a good pace. We attracted more monsters than I would have liked, but nothing that they couldn¡¯t handle.¡±


    ¡°The lions made for a good bit of fun, but as Pathfinder Ahten said, everything else was hardly worth mentioning.¡± Zar added his own perspective of the trip. ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining. My backers would have had words for me if anything had damaged their investment.¡± He gestured at the caravan behind him that was slowly gathering at the edge of the Oasis.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, it is my turn to host the celebratory feast. While most of our supplies are quite basic, I did manage to bring along a few casks of wine, as well as the two cattle over there. Not to mention the four goats, dozen chickens, and bags of fresh fruit and vegetables.¡± He waggled his eyebrows, only to have Elder Gomer cut in.


    ¡°As tempting as your offer is, Adventurer Zar, I¡¯m afraid we will have to decline. We¡¯ve already started packing to head out, making extending our stay a tricky proposition. Also, to put it politely, you¡¯ve brought an awful lot of men with you, men that have been by themselves in the desert for a week now. Not that I¡¯m implying anything bad about them, I simply need to keep an eye out for all of my tribe, including the young, unmarried women who don¡¯t know how to handle their wine.¡±


    A flash of something quickly crosses Zar¡¯s eyes before vanishing as if it had never been there.


    ¡°Ha! Probably for the best I didn¡¯t spend the night the last time I was here then.¡± The adventurer chuckled, before continuing. ¡°I won''t argue with you too much. The less of my feast you eat the more there is for me, after all. But surely you can find the time to have a drink or two? A toast, to my success and to our relationship?


    ¡°I see no problem with that.¡± Gomer admitted. ¡°We¡¯ve been stationary too long; the wild calls to us, a feeling I¡¯m sure you¡¯re somewhat familiar with as an Adventurer. Perhaps some other time we will return and can have that feast you mentioned.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be this feast, but I¡¯m sure that there is something we would be able to do for such an occasion. Boy! Grab the wine from that camel over there, and see if you can find some cups as well. You there! Bring my camel here as well.¡± The people Zar had called out hurried off to carry out his orders.


    ¡°The camel contains the rest of your payment as well as a little extra to ensure your silence. Not forever! Word will get out, and I will want it to, but not until this place has been made properly defensible. If you ever stumble across anything interesting, let me know.¡±


    The young man returned, carrying the small cask of wine over one arm and pinching a pair of cups together with his other. Zar placed the cask on the ground before stoving the top in with the butt of his sword, creating a hole large enough to dip one of the cups into. Taking one for himself, Zar handed the other one to Gomer, who took a mouthful before passing it on to the next elder. Everyone murmured appreciatively once they had a taste, and Ade could see why when the cup was passed to him. The wine was rich, not watered down or already turning to vinegar like some of the cheaper vintages he had tried. The flavor was complex and sweet, and Ade wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if some magical ingredients had been used in its creation at one point or another. All too soon the cup was empty, and while some of the elders made longing looks at the barrel Elder Gomer had hold of the cup and had no intention of refilling it.


    Instead, the Elder raised it up for a toast. ¡°To the future. May you be rewarded justly for your actions.¡±


    ¡°The future.¡± Everyone responded, and with a bow the two groups parted to start or finish their work respectively.

 Chapter 40: Kairen

    Zar, Ramses, and the one-handed Pathfinder stood at the edge of the Oasis, watching the Nomads vanish over a dune. Behind them the workers were busy constructing the first of many buildings, using advanced versions of the mud brick technique that the nomads had built their crude structures with. The storage structures had already been filled and the meeting hall had been turned into a group dormitory, while a few luxurious tents had been set up nearby for those with more wealth or status.


    Kairen barely paid a glance to all of that activity. Instead, from his position right behind Zar he silently and invisibly watched, wishing he could become tangible just long enough to stab the villain in his back. His one consolation was that the nomads had left without incident.


    "I still don¡¯t get why you just let them leave, boss, I mean sir." The pathfinder hastily corrected himself as Ramses shot him a warning look.


    Zar took a moment to let his minion sweat before answering. ¡°Rao. How much do you think that tribe would have been worth, were we to capture and sell them all?¡± A lecturing tone had entered his voice, the assurance of asking a question that he already knew the answer to.


    ¡°I dunno.¡± The newly christened Rao answered.


    ¡°Give me your best estimate, doesn¡¯t have to be perfect.¡±


    Rao talked while he did the math. ¡°Ten Gold pieces for each of the adults, six for each of the kids, a few more for the Pathfinders and maybe some of the fighters? A thousand gold pieces, give or take.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad estimate. We could probably fetch more than that, Nomadic women are a rarity at the market which would drive the price up, given their ¡®exotic¡¯ nature. An estimate of a thousand gold pieces works for my purposes. Now how much gold do you think I earn a year for my position as a silver rank adventurer?¡± Zar kept the conversation flowing.


    This question was almost instantly answered. ¡°Not nearly that much. I¡¯ve seen the bounty prices those cheap villager bastards post, and you rarely take more than a single bounty request a month. Two hundred gold at most.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± The head adventurer prodded.


    Rao looked towards Ramses for help, but the mage avoided eye contact. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s probably less because you¡¯re always hiring extra adventurers to go along with us on those missions, so maybe a hundred gold a year?¡±


    Zar sighed. ¡°Truly, your problem remains the same as ever. You rarely see further than the end of your own nose, let alone think about the future. On the surface, your initial assumptions were correct. Making slaves of as many nomads as possible would be a windfall for certain, worth a fair bit more than any of our usual raids thanks to their larger numbers and increased market value. We¡¯d all get a cut, you could afford to have your other hand healed and life would be good for awhile.¡±


    His tone turned frosty. ¡°But the story doesn¡¯t end there. You see, nomads don¡¯t have the same level of fear of the Sands as most people do. While the threat present out there might force most of our targets to surrender or die fighting, more than a few of those nomads would choose instead to simply run away, confident in their ability to survive out there, Pathfinder abilities or no. If we forced the issue right now, with them already on edge I would be surprised if we managed to capture one in ten, with most fleeing into the Sands and the rest dying to give their companions the time they needed to escape. Most of the runners would probably die out there, but it only takes one to fuck us over.


    One nomad making his way to the right city and all of a sudden the adventurer guild is hearing tales, stories about how the upright and honorable Zar Bloodwake is secretly a murderer and slaver.¡± Zar spat, dismissively showing his thoughts on the matter. ¡°A truthspeaker is summoned, and all of a sudden my adventuring license is revoked. They¡¯re not about to throw lives away posting a useless bounty on me, but I won¡¯t have access to their people or their mission board any more. How many villages do we raid each year? And how many of them can you find only because we first visited them on a mission for the Guild?¡±


    Rao begins to give an answer, but Zar is on a roll at this point. ¡°I¡¯d be impressed if you could find a single village a year working by yourself, and even then we¡¯d have no guarantees that it would be a place we could afford to attack. A constant stream of easy targets, cut off for all time because you were too greedy. Besides, it¡¯s not like this was our only chance to capture them.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Ramses snorts at that. ¡°Are you sure about that? They looked like they were going to run screaming if any of us even drew our weapons. They think there¡¯s a local spirit that¡¯s been warning them about you. Superstitious savages. As if it wasn¡¯t one of the old geezers doing it all behind the scenes to scare everyone into line.¡±


    Kairen glared at the arrogant mage. The rats might not want to be seen, but it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to get some rats to do their business in Ramses¡¯ bedding. He put the idea away to be examined later. Zar was speaking again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of stranger things happening, although I agree with you that it seems unlikely at the least. Whatever the cause, they were skittish around me, part of the reason I didn¡¯t try anything overt. Even convincing them to share a drink took more effort than I would have liked, and if I hadn¡¯t drunk first I¡¯m sure they would have found some excuse or another to decline, politeness be damned.¡±


    ¡°You poisoned the wine, sir?¡± Rao asked eagerly.


    Zar chuckled maliciously at that. ¡°The wine I shared with them is called Tantalean wine. It¡¯s quite common in Savar, where drinking it is a status symbol of sorts. The wine is magical, you see, and carries a subtle enchantment that affects anyone who drinks it. It¡¯s not a poison or a curse, making the magic difficult to detect and even harder to remove.


    Once you¡¯ve tasted the wine, the longer you go without drinking it the better it appears in your memories. Every day that passes your memory of drinking it grows a little bit more potent, the flavor becomes a little bit more incomparable. The only ¡®cure¡¯ is to have another drink."


    ¡°That¡¯s it? You slipped them a magical drink and all it does is give them fond memories of drinking it?¡± Ramses didn¡¯t even try to conceal his skepticism. Before Zar could answer, one of the foremen caught his attention and motioned him over to clarify some details regarding the construction of Zar¡¯s house. It took a few minutes to go over everything, but then the trio of slavers were alone again.


    Zar picked up the conversation as if the interruption had never happened. ¡°Subtlety, my dear friends. Anything fast acting would likely have been noticed before everyone present would have drunk it, and anything slow acting would simply leave the nomads crippled out in the desert with confirmation of our ill intent. There was also no guarantee of ensuring that everyone took a drink, and insisting on such a thing would likely have been a step too far. Instead they have only their present suspicions, which will fade with time, and the elders and most of the adults have unfading memories of a drink they can only acquire from me. Their healer won¡¯t find anything amiss, and sooner or later I foresee them returning. Let me tell you a bit more about Tantalean wine to explain my confidence in this matter.¡±


    The nomads were completely out of sight by this point, and Zar began to walk around the Oasis, exploring his new territory while he lectured his subordinates.


    ¡°As I said earlier, Tantalean wine has a long history in Savar and its affiliated city states. The wealthy drink it constantly, both to enjoy its divine flavor and to subtly display their wealth. Tantalean wine is not a cheap drink. A fair amount of magic and other rare ingredients are involved in its brewing, and drinking a cup a day can and has ruined lesser merchants. All too often a family on the rise or an outsider merchant who has made some enemies is offered a glass as a symbol of their success. Unable to refuse, they are then trapped by their desires, driven to buy more wine every time the enchantment grows strong enough to overcome their willpower. Managed carefully, the enchantment can be slowly reduced, but doing so requires a presence of mind that most individuals lack.


    One notable case was when a promising adventurer accidentally insulted the sultan of Savar''s daughter during a banquet. The sultan found an excuse to offer the man the customary cup of Tantalean wine, and the adventurer reluctantly accepted, knowing the threat it presented, but unable to directly decline. He likely could have held off the temptation for a while, long enough to purchase smaller amounts to slowly wean himself free of the desire, but for the fact that the sultan hired an assassin to feed him five more cups while he slept. A month later the poor boy was crawling on his knees to the Sultan desperate for another sip having spent all of his money and sold all his possessions trying to purchase more wine. Last I heard he had been made into the daughter¡¯s personal slave, responsible for cleaning her chamber pot and other such menial tasks.¡±


    ¡°That is a little more potent than I first thought, sir.¡± Rao admitted.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t drink all that much, not to the point where anyone else should find their actions suspicious, but even if they never return I wouldn¡¯t be overly upset. No matter how much money they might have made me in the Savarin slave markets, the value of this Oasis exceeds it many times over. With enough time and with the right investments, this place could easily become a city state almost as powerful as Savar, but far better positioned for our needs and purposes, and fully under our control.¡±


    The adventurer continued talking about his plans for the future, but Kairen wasn''t listening. How he wished that someone else had taken control of the Oasis, people more like the nomads, or miners like his own family, who would simply be happy to live in comfort without creating plans to inflict cruelty and pain on others. He would have been happy to work with people like that. Instead, Kairen would have to see just how much he could do as a spirit to foil Zar''s plans.

 Chapter 41: Kairen

    Just as Kairen had hoped, the arrival of the mercenaries and the transfer of ownership had been a significant event, giving him the points needed to make the remaining purchases. While a part of him wanted to completely deny Zar any additional benefit, it was in the minority. He was curious to see what else he could learn from about the third row of upgrades once they were affordable, and was doubtful regarding his ability to simply not purchase any upgrades. Kairen might be able to delay, but once his upgrade pool was full the system would likely compel him to choose something, just as it had previously. Kairen knew eventually he would be testing the limits of that mechanism, but not right away.


    The fertility upgrade was both cheap and something unlikely to benefit the entirely male group of workers present. It would benefit the rat colonies that had been established, and with the nomads out of the picture Kairen was less concerned about the rats causing problems for the humans. Spoiled food or infested homes were the least of the troubles he wanted to inflict on those he viewed as invaders. Eagerly he purchased the upgrade, and watched as his pool size increased to 1000. While it would take a day or two for him to gather the points needed to actually purchase one of the new upgrades, Kairen eagerly looked over the options available, curious as to what new information he could glean now that the pictures were moving.


    The first thing Kairen noticed was that not all of the pictures had been animated. Three remained as immobile as ever, and still had the greyed-out hue that implied they were unavailable to be purchased. It didn¡¯t take long to guess at the likely cause. Two options had lines connecting them to the shrinking monster upgrade, while the third lay directly above the pool depth upgrade, the only second tier upgrades that Kairen hadn¡¯t purchased at all. He had skipped some of the blessings, but the fact that all five were tied to the same third tier upgrade and all increased in price whenever he bought one meant they weren¡¯t quite the same.


    It was frustrating, having some of his choices locked away like that. While Kairen did have the points needed to purchase either or both of the shrinking and depth upgrades, he didn¡¯t know if he wanted to. Neither of them seemed immediately useful for his purposes, and the slavers would definitely notice the physical change to the pool, even if they couldn¡¯t feel the monster ward being put into place. Then again, Ramses was a mage and while he seemed to struggle to understand Kairen and his capabilities, that didn¡¯t mean he would be completely oblivious to any magical changes that might occur.


    Kairen shook his head, and made a rude gesture at the mage who was hard at work recovering his magic, also known as napping by the pool. He fantasized for a moment about suddenly enlarging the size of the pond to unexpectedly dunk the mage, but not only was it a frivolous use of his points the next level of that upgrade cost more points than he had or could afford. Instead, Kairen turned his focus towards the third-tier upgrades that had been unlocked. Once he had a better idea what they would do he would see if he could make sense of the locked ones from context, or reconsider where he wanted to invest his points.


    The tree of blessing abilities only offered a single third tier blessing. The static image had been that of an old man in excellent health, and the moving image elaborated on that theme. It cycled through a variety of individuals, old and young, healthy and sick, before showing their condition improving. The boost was barely noticeable when applied to children, but had impressive benefits to the elderly and the sick, providing them with additional energy and life force that they needed to once again go about their lives normally. Vitality, the energy of life was both a powerful blessing and a subtle one. The structure of the tree suggested that every Oasis would offer this blessing to one degree or another, and Kairen could see how it would get overlooked. The benefit towards general health was useful, but could easily be attributed to plenty of other causes, such as the abundance of water or safety from the hazards normally present in the Shifting Sands. More than that, each of the blessings provided minimal benefits per level. Kairen had provided both the endurance blessing and the education blessing to the nomads, and despite knowing that both blessings were present, he found it difficult to actively attribute any difference in behavior to their presence. The nomads worked harder than he remembered the adults from his village doing, but it was easy to simply write it off as being more dedicated to their work or simply being better fed and hydrated.


    It was just a suspicion at this point, but Kairen had a feeling that the higher tier blessings he chose also affected the rats. The fertility blessing clearly portrayed its universal nature, but the second and third tier blessings only showed images of humans for their descriptions, although that might simply be to help him understand their purpose. He didn¡¯t know if all life present in the Oasis benefitted from them or if whatever quirk of magic allowed Alpha and his progeny to see him was responsible, but there clearly was some empowerment happening. For animals, their capability to understand his directions and tirelessly carry them out was impressive. Most nights he had worked with Alpha and the other named rats for hours on end, carefully pointing out areas to dig and making sure that they didn¡¯t backfill other areas of his message. Despite the long period of time spent doing activities that didn¡¯t help them survive, the group of rats always seemed to have the energy to go forage afterwards and return the next night willing to work some more under Kairen¡¯s direction.


    If the rats did benefit from the blessings that Kairen chose, then obtaining the vitality upgrade became a long-term goal for the ghost. He didn¡¯t know what the usual lifespan was for a desert rat, but it was far shorter than that of a human, let alone whatever lifespan Kairen might expect from his new existence. Gaining more time with his small friends was a treasure worth far more than whatever benefits the slavers might gain from the same blessing.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Making a note to further test the blessings later, Kairen turned his attention to the middle tree, the one that so far had offered upgrades that physically changed the Oasis. The third-tier choices continued with this theme, with three options each connected to a single upgrade from the second tier.


    It took Kairen a bit to spot the difference between the first third tier upgrade and the plant growth option beneath it. Both showed new plants springing into life and rapidly growing to maturity, and for a moment Kairen wondered if multiple upgrades with the same purpose was simply a way for the system to compensate for the increasing cost of purchasing upgrades. However, on closer inspection, Kairen noticed a few small details that set the third-tier choice apart. All the plants that grew were surrounded by a faint ethereal glow that didn¡¯t seem to actually cast any light. More than that, every time the animation played small details were different. From the shape of the leaves to the color of the fruit that grew, something had changed every time Kairen watched, and even after ten cycles he hadn¡¯t seen it repeat itself, while the Plant Growth option simply played the same moving image over and over. What finally clued Kairen in as to the benefit of the third-tier upgrade was when he recognized some of the plants being generated. He had seen them quite recently, when the Nomads had tried to plant them, first inside the Oasis and then just outside his boundary.


    Magical plants were the benefit offered, and one that Kairen had no intention of purchasing for as long as the slavers held control of his territory. There wasn¡¯t any guarantee as to which plants would begin to grow, but any magical plants would be an unexpected windfall, a rare treasure handed over to his murderers not just once, but continually.


    Crossing that upgrade off his list, Kairen focused on the other available upgrade on the physical tree. It was linked to the grassy area upgrade, but while that ability increased the size of the Oasis horizontally, this one seemed to do so vertically. While Kairen could see that the source of water was located quite far underground, most of the Oasis consisted of a layer of soil only a few feet deep. It was enough to provide fertile ground for the plants that grew, but the nomads had quickly hit a transition layer between dirt and sand when they had been making mud bricks. This upgrade promised to extend that layer drastically, turning a few feet of soil into fifty or so, transforming to solid rock as the depth increased. It would probably take additional upgrades, but Kairen thought he saw the beginning of mineral veins appearing at the lowest edges of the displayed upgrade.


    Mining wasn¡¯t an uncommon profession in the Shifting Sands. Despite the name there were many areas of the desert that were simply barren, rocky ground, where extracting resources from the earth was possible but difficult. Kairen¡¯s village had been located in one such place, and his father had been a successful miner, bringing enough ore and metal up to both keep his family alive and to stockpile some money for the future as well. Kairen doubted the slavers would be willing to do any mining themselves, but all it would take would be a simple raid and they would have a force of experienced slaves that could be forced to labor away. Kairen mentally put the upgrade just above the magical plant one on his ignore list. It¡¯s only saving grace was that the change would occur underground, where it might take some time for the slavers to notice anything different, depending on how much the earth would rumble during such a change.


    Before moving on to the defensive tree, Kairen looked at the last option in the physical tree, the unmoving upgrade that was tied to pool depth. Knowing it would affect the pool in some way helped, but the static image of something unidentifiable, obscured by a cloud of mud, didn¡¯t offer many clues as to what the upgrade would do.


    The two options that were moving didn¡¯t provide any new information for Kairen to take advantage of. Both were tied to the storm deflection upgrade, and both seemed to expand the defenses provided by the magical barrier. One seemed to affect sunlight and possibly heat as well, turning the harsh glare outside in the sands into something more tolerable. Kairen was sure that the image exaggerated the effect for purposes of getting the point across, but keeping the temperature in the Oasis bearable was hardly something that Zar and his lackeys could use maliciously. The other upgrade clearly showed the barrier deflecting or slowing all sorts of projectiles from arrows to sling bullets to javelins. Magical spells weren¡¯t affected at all, and the shots from a ballista and a catapult had their trajectories only slightly altered. It was still a potent defensive upgrade, one that would make assaulting the Oasis a far more difficult proposition than it already was. If the Nomads had been present and had had the fortifications necessary to keep the slavers out Kairen would have been ecstatic. This was the sort of upgrade that he had hoped for to help tip the scales of a potential fight, only he had gotten access to it too late to actually change the outcome of events. Kairen would have felt far worse if any actual fighting had occurred, but as it was the arrow deflection upgrade was ignored as well.


    Kairen was somewhat disheartened at how few of the upgrades were actually appealing for his current position. He didn¡¯t know what he had been hoping for, but something more than hordes of rats would have been a nice feature to look forward to. He supposed it was all a matter of perspective. All the upgrades were good, he was just looking for some choices that were bad, or at least situational enough to be misused. Fortunately, one of the last options in the defensive tree looked promising in that regard While Kairen couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of one, the other showed large numbers of monsters outside the barrier. Wanting confirmation of his hunch, Kairen purchased a level of monster shrinking, and watched the group of monsters begin to move.


    His initial guess was correct. The third-tier upgrade lured monsters to the Oasis. Kairen could see the potential upsides of such an ability. With the barrier keeping the monsters out of the Oasis they would be easy targets for any mages or archers to whittle down, providing valuable combat experience and materials to whoever held the Oasis. It wasn¡¯t a perfect solution, but Kairen could easily see the unexpected monsters causing problems for Zar, especially if he refused to upgrade his barrier any further. Monsters outside the Oasis might be a nuisance, but monsters inside it might be his ticket to salvation.

 Chapter 42: Kairen

    Chapter 42: Kairen


    Three days had given Kairen the upgrade points needed to purchase his first third tier upgrade, and he had immediately grabbed the monster lure. Now was when the slavers were at their weakest, and constant monster attacks would have the most impact. With Zar and the other mercenaries he had hired present Kairen didn¡¯t think the monsters would actually drive the slavers away, but every minute they spent fighting was one they weren¡¯t focusing on adding more buildings to the Oasis. The upgrade didn¡¯t cause anything to happen immediately, but Kairen was looking forward to the mayhem that would occur over the next few days.


    The nomads had left the Oasis more or less intact. They had built their meeting hall and a few storehouses, but their goats and camels were grazing animals, and a free and easy source of feed for them was more important than positioning their tents or buildings slightly closer to the water. While the slavers had brought quite a few camels themselves they had also brought supplies to feed them, for the short time they were there. Already Rao and two other pathfinders that Zar had acquired had been sent out. Rao had the longer journey ahead of him, charting the path between the Oasis and Savar, with the intent of creating a trade route for illicit goods that didn¡¯t pass through Luxor. The other two pathfinders weren¡¯t nearly as capable and were relegated to taking most of the camels back to Luxor to resupply. A part of Kairen hoped they got attacked by monsters on the way there, but he knew he was being unfair. Neither of the two pathfinders had done anything evil as far as he knew, and likely had been persuaded to come along on this expedition for money more than any actual desire to see slavery prosper.


    With most of the camels gone and with enough grain to feed the rest for months it didn¡¯t take long for an engineer to divide the Oasis into lots, with the grid of projected construction expanding out into the desert.


    ¡°Are you sure that all this is necessary?¡± Zar asked, gesturing at the rope tied between long poles anchored out in the sands.


    ¡°I don¡¯t tell you how to kill monsters, and you don¡¯t tell me how to build buildings.¡± The engineer snarked back, confident in his expertise. Not wanting to push his employer too far, the man began to explain his reasoning.


    ¡°The Oasis is filled by a natural source of magic. This magic isn¡¯t infinite, but allows for far more water to be drawn from the Oasis than would be possible from any natural source of water. My tests yesterday with men drawing as much water as possible revealed that the magic does it¡¯s best to keep the pond filled, but can be worn out if sufficient water is drawn from the pool. A hydromancer might be able to give you a better answer or a more technical explanation of what is happening, but for my purposes I was able to assume that 50,000 gallons of water can be drawn from the oasis on a daily basis. The oasis holds more than that, giving you some leeway on when the water is used, but that fifty thousand gallons is the number I¡¯m basing my calculations on. Assuming that you don¡¯t invest in agricultural pursuits, that is enough water to support a population of ten thousand or so. A bit less depending on how many baths you want your servants to draw you, but it means that instead of drawing up plans for a small settlement that will have to be torn down in a few years I would rather build with the assumption that eventually this settlement will reach that size. That means dedicated roads, a large marketplace, sanitary areas, and a few spots set aside for public buildings.¡±


    The engineer pulled out a set of blueprints that had seen a large amount of revision, pointing out the features as he named them he then pointed to a thick ring surrounding the pool. ¡°I also have a proposal for a secondary set of walls to be built around the oasis. While it is difficult to truly steal a significant amount of water, a defensive structure would help keep out saboteurs and would increase your ability to control the sale of water from the Oasis.¡± The planner chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s hard to charge for water when they can simply walk to the other side of the pond and fill their containers without you stopping them.¡±


    ¡°The Oasis has some form of cleaning magic that should make sabotage less of a threat, but I do see your point about the value of a defensive wall. At the moment it is unneeded, and it will likely be more effective to simply post a guard for a good while, but please keep those walls in your long-term planning.¡± The engineer nodded and made some notes on his plans.


    Kairen couldn¡¯t read the notes, but the building overview was obvious enough to get a general idea of what the man was planning. It was an impressive sprawl of structures, some large and opulent for the rich upper crust, others built to function as both shop and home for the poorer merchants and craftsmen who would eventually be lured with the promise of a better chance at success, and finally there were the slave houses. Large structures more concerned with efficiency than any sense of aesthetic or comfort, most were planned to be added to the outskirts of the future city, but two had already started construction; one next to the town square and the other attached to Zar¡¯s home.


    The planned building that interested Kairen the most was the schoolhouse. It would take a while before the population of rich children present at the Oasis was large enough to necessitate it, but given Zar and the engineer¡¯s demonstrated written fluency Kairen was positive that writing and reading would be on the syllabus. Learning to read and write had suddenly become more important than ever to Kairen, for one simple reason.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°What other upgrades are available?¡±


    ¡°Can you show me the next tier of upgrades?¡±


    ¡°Give me something to work with, you stupid screen!¡±


    Despite many attempts at creating different requests, Kairen was unable to make the screen display the fourth tier of upgrades. He knew there was something there. His screen had lines connecting the upgrades in each tree, and those lines continued up past the third tier, but nothing Kairen had tried was working. Not only would learning to read give him a better idea of what his existing upgrade did, but it would also hopefully help him figure out what he was missing.


    With that said, unlocking the fourth tier was a longer-term goal. The third-tier upgrades were expensive enough, and the slavers were not in the habit of leaving various offerings at the altar. They hadn¡¯t bothered to tear it down either, but Kairen didn¡¯t see them forming the same relationship he had had with the nomads. It was difficult to reach out to people who you suspected were only interested in exploiting you, and Kairen was positive that a resource was all Zar saw him as, and was mostly sure that the rest of the slavers would follow Zar¡¯s lead on the matter. Even without that extra source of upgrade points Kairen¡¯s daily income had increased, likely due to all the construction that was occurring. Even though less people were present in the Oasis now, what they were doing would have longer term effects than simply spending their days experimenting with gardening and working in a relaxed manner like the nomads had done. To be fair, Ade and the Nomads who had gone with him had been working hard, they simply hadn¡¯t done so where Kairen was able to take advantage of their efforts.


    Even with a hundred upgrade points a day to work with, it would take months for Kairen to purchase the upgrades available to him, slowly increasing his capacity as he went along. The elevating costs of each upgrade would slow things down, and Kairen had a suspicion that he was missing something fundamental to the system. So far Kairen had been able to access the next tier after purchasing enough levels of the previous upgrades, but he didn¡¯t think the pattern would continue to work as it had for much longer. Given the first three tiers had started out with costs of 50, 300, and 1,000, Kairen expected the fourth tier to start at no lower than 1500 upgrade points, and likely higher. 2,000 was his more realistic guess as to what a fourth-tier upgrade would cost, but the price alone shouldn¡¯t be a reason to hide the upgrades. While learning to read would help, there was one other piece of the System that Kairen hadn¡¯t really tested. Only once had he risked his upgrade pool overflowing, but the system had forcibly grabbed his attention and pushed him to choose an upgrade before anything happened. It would take a while to get the points needed, but Kairen was curious as to what exactly happened if he didn¡¯t choose anything.


    Ten days was a long time to wait, and harassing Ramses only had so much entertainment value, usually governed by how long it took the lazy mage to call it quits for the day and go back to relaxing. Having Zar present pushed the mage to work harder than he would have otherwise, but while the mage respected and deferred to Zar, his relationship with the adventurer was not that of a simple subordinate. Kairen¡¯s best guess was that the pair had been adventurers together at a lower rank, and had kept that relationship alive even though they went down different paths in life.


    Finally, ten days had passed and the moment of truth had arrived. Fortunately for Kairen he reached his maximum capacity shortly after most of the slavers had retired for the night, making it less likely for them to notice any unexpected changes that might occur. The feeling of bloated fullness was just as uncomfortable as the ghost remembered, and even though the screen had yet to make an appearance Kairen was already itching to select an option and get it all over with. Grinding his teeth, he began to pace, using the movement to help distract himself from the feeling of wrongness that was beginning to permeate his existence.


    Kairen had been somewhat distracted with the party at the time, but he felt like it had been a far shorter interval between the moment he began to experience discomfort to the time that the screen automatically appeared. He wasn¡¯t sure what the exact cause was though. It was possible that the festival going on and the extra upgrade points it had provided had pushed him to the point of no return more quickly. It was also possible that the additional distraction of eating for the first time in a while had helped Kairen ignore the first moments of pain. Or if the sensation was tied to his upgrade pool, it was also possible that having a larger pool dragged the process out more than the boy would have liked. Kairen couldn¡¯t figure out which of those ideas was right at the moment, but made a mental note to try and test the limits late.


    Much like last time the window appeared, the options began to pulse. There were far more of them this time, and instead of two lights flashing back and forth in sequence the glow appeared to be a spot of light that was running in circles around the screen. It skipped over the locked pool upgrade, but every other choice had its turn in the spotlight.


    It took a few moments of the light moving around to realize that it wasn¡¯t regular. Last time both options had been the same level, something that was no longer true. He had multiple options at different levels, and the light seemed to pause a little bit on the upgrades that Kairen had already invested into. Not enough to make the outcome inevitable, but enough that the random choice would still favor keeping the Oasis focus on some areas over others.


    The intensity of the light continued to increase, and the physical pain suddenly was joined by a mental pressure, despite his intention of simply observing the procedure, Kairen couldn¡¯t help but fight back against the invasion of his will. Whatever was happening was a violation of his will and he did not like that. For a moment it seemed like he might be successful at throwing the mental intruder out, only to suddenly collapse both physically and mentally, the strain from fighting surprisingly draining. With an inaudible click Kairen could feel the upgrade choice being made for him, and the screen vanished, taking the pain with it.

 Chapter 43: Kairen

    Kairen took a minute to catch his breath, letting the memory of the pain fade a little. Nothing had physically changed, and the boy figured he had at least a few minutes before needing to deal with any effects his experiment might have caused. Once he felt like he could think straight again, Kairen went ahead and re-opened the window.


    It took him a second of looking around, but Kairen quickly saw that the random upgrade he had purchased had been a second level of storm deflection. While not Kairen¡¯s first choice of options, there were far worse upgrades he could have ended up with. The one upside of the experiment was the knowledge that Kairen had gained. Going forwards the boy would need to be careful to carefully manage his upgrade points. While the system gave him some degree of warning before forcing a choice on him, it was driven by a surplus of upgrade points, with the pressure to choose growing more intense as additional points accumulated. While normally Kairen would have enough time to react to the warning and pick an option, he couldn¡¯t guarantee that would always be the case.


    Most of the upgrades he was interested in purchasing had costs close to his maximum capacity, and saving up points would put Kairen in a precarious position where a sudden influx from a festival or other significant event might trigger the automated system, robbing Kairen of his patiently earned points by spending them on some other choice entirely. The problem was somewhat self-correcting, as every upgrade purchased would make it less likely to happen again due to his increasing reserve for points, but it was still something to factor in when planning for the future.


    What really interested Kairen about his experiment was the mechanism behind the randomized choice. Until now he had thought of the system as something entirely separate to himself, a completely different entity that he was somehow able to interact with. Now he wasn¡¯t so sure. For all that the system had forced a choice to be made, a part of Kairen was still under the impression that he had made the choice. Not because he knew what choice had been made, and not because he had accidentally given in and picked an option to make the pain stop, but because he had a gut instinct that he was in total control of the development of the Oasis. He quite clearly could still be forced to take actions he didn¡¯t like, but his existence and that of the Oasis were intertwined in a way that the ghost hadn¡¯t really examined before now.


    It made a certain amount of sense. Kairen had never heard of anyone sticking around as a ghost after their death. He had also never heard of any new Oases being formed. While it was possible that the two unlikely events just happened to both occur at the same place and time, it was far more believable that there was only one improbable occurrence responsible for everything. It also added some new insights into his inability to leave the Oasis. It wasn¡¯t that there was some invisible barrier keeping him here, or that he was still tethered to his corpse in some psychic manner, but instead his existence was linked to that of the Oasis, something that had deeper implications than Kairen first realized.


    It was rare that anyone would want to destroy an Oasis, but doing so wasn¡¯t impossible. Humans had done crueler deeds in the name of war, and while most would be self-serving enough to try and claim the magical haven for themselves, there were plenty of hard men who would rather burn the place down than let their enemies benefit. Beyond that the dangers of the Shifting Sands were an ever present if less likely threat. Kairen had listened in to the nomads¡¯ tales of history, of an empire that had been built across the desert as a monument to the pride of man only to be eradicated by the Sands, with titanic monsters and extreme environments ensuring that no two stones were left standing. Said dangers usually only lurked in the deepest parts of the desert, but there wasn¡¯t any way to guarantee that Kairen would never have to face them. Storm Deflection and the Monster Repelling upgrades would help, but there was a limit to their power, and Kairen knew that his defenses would be just as useful as bedclothes in a sandstorm.


    Of course, that assumed that Kairen even made the effort to upgrade those powers at all. Doing so would aid the slavers, and Kairen sat down and closed his eyes to try and sort through the jumbled mess of feelings and motivations he had stumbled upon.


    The slavers were directly responsible for his death and the death of just about everyone he had grown up with. The few that still lived had been forced into a life of slavery and Kairen was unlikely to ever see them again, or recognize them if he did. From these events an ember of vengeance had been born, and had been carefully cultivated. Kairen hadn¡¯t known how he would strike back at the slavers while in his current situation, only to have the targets of his dark wrath come to him. If only he could, Kairen would gladly kill everyone present in the Oasis ten times over, and would still feel as if he still had wrongs left to right.


    The spirit took a minute to simply feel those emotions. He knew that some saints would advocate for mercy and forgiveness. The nomads had enough stories of blood feuds that he knew that violence only caused more violence. In many ways he was now safe from the slavers, and could choose to move on with this second chance of life. Fuck that. Kairen snorted. At no point during his emotional examination did he feel like his reasoning was flawed, like his fury wasn¡¯t righteous. The slavers fully deserved whatever punishment he could send their way, and Kairen was not falling into darkness for desiring their end. He was not losing himself, not sacrificing his innocence or purity or hope for a better future. How could he, when Zar had already taken them from him? All Kairen was doing now was playing the role the adventurer had given to him when he had cut off his hands and left him to die in the desert.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    It took Kairen a bit to realize the last statement wasn¡¯t completely accurate. His personality, his shape as a person had been crafted before his death, and Kairen couldn¡¯t care less about reclaiming the love or innocence that was lost to him. But he was more than human now. The Oasis was part of him, or he was part of it in some strange way, and it took the boy a bit to truly internalize that connection. The upgrades that the system provided weren¡¯t just tools he could reappropriate for his private war, they were pieces of himself in some strange sense, ways that he could shape his growth going into the future. To avoid those upgrades, to direct the development of the Oasis in such a way as to hurt the slavers was a strange form of mutilation, one that made Kairen uneasy. His actions were the spiritual equivalent of cutting off a nose to spite the face, or perhaps cutting off a hand to shame the body was the slightly more apt metaphor.


    Kairen couldn¡¯t help but look downwards, at the empty space his body occupied. He could feel his fists clenching and unclenching, but not seeing anything was unsettling. With his thoughts going around in circles Kairen found himself staggering over to the rat warren, unable to focus enough to keep his steps steady. It was afternoon, but by providence or unspoken command Gamma poked her head out. The intelligent rat quickly spotted Kairen and made her way over to him, where it didn¡¯t take long for the boy to begin petting her, embracing the grounding that the sensation provided him.


    A part of him wanted destruction so badly, both that of his tormentors, but also his own ending. His blood boiled and called for an ending of all things, for the slavers to drown and their buildings to collapse as the Oasis pool grew, vast and monstrously deep, a maw that sucked everything down into black depths, into an eternal slumber, with no more dreams or memories of dying parents and screams of slaves.


    The nomads had done more for Kairen than they would ever know, their easy sense of community sucking the boy in and giving him the space he needed to live, to put his painful memories aside for a time as he tried to experience life again, even if only as a bystander. Without that source of mental strength Kairen was sure he would have gone mad, would have simply broken apart under the strain, but he didn¡¯t. He was anchored, and that same anchoring spoke against his initial plans.


    ¡°Would it be worth it?¡± The boy asked himself the question as if it was coming from the Elders, whose experience dwarfed his own. The mysterious fourth tier sparked Kairen¡¯s imagination and he thought on the future for a bit. If he was offered the ability to turn the pool into poison, changing the cleansing water into a drink of death, would he do so? It was almost guaranteed that doing so would kill all of the slavers, Zar included. The strength and constitution that adventurers worked for only went so far in the face of more subtle dangers, and even if the evil man did survive the Oasis would soon be abandoned. Kairen would have won, with his only reward a watery memorial of what he had lost. Kairen couldn¡¯t remove his upgrades, couldn¡¯t turn any of them off. Poisoning the water would kill not just the slavers, but anyone who found their way to his location. For as long as the ghost and the Oasis remained, it would be a trap, one that would only cause the death of otherwise innocent explorers and travelers, and forever barring Kairen from moving forwards.


    The question Kairen voiced hung on the air. He badly wanted to give into his rash explosive anger, the feelings that demanded action and rushed through his body so loudly that they almost drowned out all other thoughts. It would be easy to ignore the whispers of wisdom that he could still hear, the warning murmurs that would remain once his rage was spent, his vengeance achieved, his wrath guttered. But the rat in his hands told him a different truth.


    He was more than his hate.


    There was so much that Kairen had yet to learn about his circumstances, but what he had found out whispered at his potential. Potential to change the world in some way. Potential that outweighed the cost of revenge, no matter how he tried to balance the scales. He couldn¡¯t, wouldn¡¯t, shouldn¡¯t give up on his quest for vengeance. But it couldn¡¯t be his primary goal, not when there were people depending on him. He was still a sanctuary for the nomads, a source of water where they wouldn¡¯t be the alienated outsiders most cities viewed them as. He was still the progenitor of Alpha and his kin, the rats intelligent enough to have awareness of the world around them, and who placed a level of trust and faith in Kairen that astounded the boy when he thought about it.


    Kairen looked at the screen, quietly hovering in front of him, before silently willing it to close. No words were needed, just an acknowledgment of the connection that already existed between him and it. There were more secrets to tease out about the system waiting to be understood and used. The pressure of being forced to choose had been resistible, was a challenge Kairen could use to grow stronger, even if doing so would only ever have abstract applications. It was another method of moving forwards that Kairen could add to his quiver, ready for the right moment.


    Kairen would never willingly aid his enemy, but neither did he have to blind himself in pursuit of his revenge. Striking too soon or sabotaging the camp with the wrong ability would simply put the slavers on guard. He might not like it, but he could wait. Wait for the right moment, for the right ability. Wait for allies to come into power, for other forces to become aware of his Oasis and enact their own agendas. Wait for enough rats to simply drown his murderers in a sea of fang and fur. The future was a mystery to Kairen. He didn¡¯t know what twists or turns it would hold. But as he watched Zar laugh and have dinner with subordinates he affirmed his intent. When the moment came to make everything come crashing down, to make the villain pay in blood for every crime committed with interest. When the right moment came along to undo it all, he would be ready.

 Chapter 44: Kairen

    The next two weeks went by quickly. The catharsis Kairen had achieved gave a measure of peace and detachment from his current situation that insulated him from the worst of his rage. It was an unstable arrangement, but one that let the boy focus on purchasing upgrades that wouldn¡¯t be immediately visible, all while waiting for a chance to change things.


    The slavers hadn¡¯t been idle during that time either. Buildings continued to be thrown up at a rapid pace, and all of the workers had claimed houses for themselves and had begun to make themselves feel at home.


    Zar¡¯s more opulent structure was inching towards completion, but had reached the point where it was limited by the amount of wood and stone that could be brought in from Luxor. With only two weak Pathfinders moving goods back and forth and with Zar unwilling to make the existence of the Oasis public knowledge it was a long slow process. Fortunately for the slavers, Rao had been more successful with his own mission. The one-handed Pathfinder had managed to reach Savar alive, and in a timeframe that made more frequent travel between the two places viable. Thanks to magical communication Rao was able to update Zar on his progress, and receive instructions for the future. For the moment, he was the only Pathfinder with any experience with that route, but Zar had tasked him with recruiting a few novice pathfinders to teach the route. He also had a few coded messages that were meant to be passed on to some of the backers that had helped fund this expedition.


    The eight- or nine-day passage between Savar and the Oasis compared competitively to the alternate route of traveling from Savar to the Oasis via Luxor. The latter took two five-day trips, taking slightly longer but requiring less supplies to be carried for each leg of the journey and making it easier to reach safety if anything went wrong. Travelling straight from Savar to the Oasis did have the benefit of easier transportation of illicit goods, something Zar was looking to take advantage of in his quest to turn the Oasis into a black market, a hub for any and all sinful wares.


    The first step in his plan to do so to give his new domain a proper name. The rarity of Oases meant that calling it ¡®The Oasis¡¯ meant that everyone involved so far knew what the speaker was referring to, but Zar wanted his place to have a memorable name, one that could gather its own fame and proclaim that his settlement had more to offer than just water for the weary traveler or trader.


    Zar¡¯s Bazaar was suggested and immediately shot down. It was the name for a small shop or emporium, a name that projected a friendly and punny air to draw in customers. Referring to the Oasis as a bazaar might be true, especially at first, but Zar wanted to grow his investment beyond that. He wanted to rule over a city that could compete with Luxor, Savar or any of the other cities with ease, a thriving place of mercantile activity and life that enriched him with every transaction completed.


    The egotistical adventurer did like the idea of including his name as part of the city¡¯s title, and Kairen and the rest of the camp were subjected to hundreds of awful ideas as he meticulously tried out every possible syllable combination in his search for the perfect name. Zaros was the eventual winner, even if some of the workers seemed adamant on making Zarden an unofficial name for the place, much to Zar¡¯s irritation. A part of Kairen wished that he could offer his own input, could participate in the effort to name himself, but it was only idle dreaming and was quickly shut down by the much larger portion of his mind that refused to cooperate with the slavers and murderers on anything, even something as frivolous as a name. It wasn¡¯t like the ghost had any better ideas either, simply a distaste for Zar.


    Kairen had larger problems to worry about anyways, some of which he could only partially work to fix. His burgeoning rat population was one such issue, and had finally come to a head.


    Muffled squealing filled the air around the campfire. Most of the men present were busy eating a rough meal for dinner, but their eyes were fixed on a reedy fellow who was busy providing entertainment for his companions. The man had a rat firmly grasped in his left hand, which he held forwards for everyone to easily see. For the moment, the rat was alive, but its jaw had been broken to prevent it from biting its captor, not that it stopped the rat from squirming or making noise. His other hand held a sharp knife, which he spun around boney fingers while listening to the conversation taking place.


    ¡°Couple of copper says he can¡¯t make it more than halfway.¡± A brute of a man to his left argued. ¡°It already has a broken jaw and a cut leg. Rab here isn¡¯t fast enough to get further than half before it dies of blood loss or shock.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that bet.¡± Someone else across the cooking fire called back. ¡°Anyone else got something to wager?¡±


    ¡°A round of drinks for everyone if Rab makes it all the way!¡± was met by a series of boos.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°How the fuck is anyone supposed to take you up on that bet? Wager something for a single person, not the whole crew, dumbass. And pick something other than drink. It works fine for betting in a bar, but not so much out here where we only have water and piss-poor wine to drink. If you¡¯ve got a secret stash that¡¯s one thing, but otherwise put your money where your mouth is or shut up.


    The young man flushed at the insults, but managed to hold onto his cool enough to keep from starting anything. He muttered a response under his breath that no one could make out, before grabbing his bowl of soup and stalking off.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put a silver on you not getting the head off.¡± Someone else picked up the thread of conversation and the betting continued. With no women, no strong alcohol, and none of the amenities that could be found in more established towns the workers found their evenings filled with boredom. The few sets of dice and crude cards that had been brought along were highly coveted, the rest of the workers had to make do with whatever forms of fun they could create.


    With the betting wrapped up the reedy man began his macabre work. Starting from the back leg he had crippled when catching the rat, he began to carefully insert the blade, keeping it shallow and carefully cutting away at the supporting structure for the skin. A few of his audience argued that he was taking too long, but were quickly heckled down. It was hard for their compatriots to take their argument seriously when everyone knew that the pair had money riding on the skinner messing up at one point or another.


    Kairen could only watch on in horror. The cruelty in front of him was the idle work of evil hands, the pastime of people whose ability to care ended with themselves. Fortunately, Kairen wasn¡¯t the only being who objected to their actions.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Rab cried out in pain, dropping both the knife and the rat as he jumped up in shock. ¡°Something bit me!¡± It didn''t take Kairen and the slavers long to find the culprit. Another rat, this one larger and stronger than the one that had gotten caught, was hard at work trying to pull his companion away from the fire and back to safety. Kairen recognized it as one of the smarter rats that he hadn¡¯t gotten around to naming, and desperately he called out to it.


    ¡°Run! They¡¯ll kill you too!¡± The rat glanced in his direction, but refused to leave his burden behind.


    Kairen¡¯s warning soon proved to be slightly incorrect. Instead of simply crushing the slow-moving rats, a dirty old cloak was used as an improvised net, trapping the rodents in a tangle of cloth.


    ¡°Blasted vermin¡± Rab muttered, glaring at the wiggling bundle and kicking it a few times.


    ¡°I know exactly what you mean. Here I was, about to win all that money, and that little fucker had to bite you and ruin it all.¡±


    ¡°Were you watching the same thing I was? Rab killed the rat minutes ago, and it was only twitching because he was moving it. It certainly wasn¡¯t moving any when the big one was pulling it away.¡±


    ¡°Only reason you couldn¡¯t see it moving was because you only have one eye!¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± Rab cut the betting argument short. ¡°The game was interrupted, so no one wins. I¡¯ll try and catch another rat later to have another go with. But I have something special in mind for these two.¡±


    Picking up the cloak he began limping his way towards the pond, talking as he went. There was a wild undercurrent in his voice, a subtle promise of pain and violence turned mad. ¡°There aren¡¯t many places to try this in the Sands, but I heard from a foreign adventurer once that drowning is considered one of the worst ways to die. There are more painful methods of killing someone, and more drawn-out methods as well, but very few methods that put as much pressure on the victim to stay alive as drowning does.¡±


    ¡°You can only do so much if you¡¯re bleeding out, and poison either kills you or it doesn¡¯t, but if you¡¯re drowning you''ll be fine as long as you can hold your breath. That big fucker had smarts. It knew I was hurting another rat and it wanted me to stop. Now I want it to know that all it did was get itself killed.¡± Finished with his speech Rab took a minute to grab a piece of rope and tie the cloak shut, before tossing the whole bundle into the pond. Everyone watched on as the rats began to struggle violently, causing the water to ripple as they struggled to move around and find air, but slowly the cloak became more and more waterlogged, steadily dropping lower and lower in the water. The struggles began to die down as well, but they didn¡¯t entirely stop, not even when the cloak submerged, leaving a small trail of bubbles heading towards the surface as the last of the air was forced out. Finally, after a few tense minutes, the movement stopped.


    Rab waded into the pond to retrieve his coat, untying the knots he had formed before opening it up and shaking it out. However, no dead rats appeared. Instead, a series of holes was visible, steadily growing from where the cleansing magic of the Oasis was eating away at the dirty cloth. Despite being unable to swim, despite being beaten and hurt, despite everyone watching the spot where the cloak had sunk the rats had somehow managed to find a way out to safety.


    It was a victory, however small, but Kairen knew that it was just the initial battle of a long war. The humans now knew about the rats, and would put far more effort into removing the pests. The rats had been attacked, and had lost most of their fear of being seen. Their newfound hatred for the humans drove them to act far more aggressively than they had before. No longer would they be content to simply hide and the shadows hoping to be left alone.


    It was war.

 Chapter 45: Kairen

    The war between rats and slavers did not progress as Kairen had expected it to. His rats had been breeding for months, and the nomads and slavers kept most of their natural predators away from the Oasis, allowing their population to explode. Even if the rats couldn¡¯t win a straight fight against the much larger humans, Kairen was positive that eating them out of house and home should have been an option.


    Unfortunately, Kairen forgot to account for two factors. The first was Ramses, the earth mage. His lazy nature and difficulty working around Kairen¡¯s presence had caused the ghost to write him off as useless, a stance he was quickly forced to reconsider. The mage¡¯s ability to work the earth included not only raising and shaping it, but also compacting it. The storehouses used to hold the food were quickly upgraded under his direction. Walls were turned into singular pieces of brick, and doorframes molded themselves to perfectly fit around the doors when closed. Getting in wasn¡¯t technically impossible, but attempting to do so took so long that a patrol was likely to come by and scare any rats off before starting repairs. There was only so much infrastructure that the mage could maintain, and the rats gleefully rummaged through the personal structures the workers had set up, grabbing snacks and tearing holes in as many clothes as possible.


    The second factor that Kairen hadn¡¯t thought to account for was the adventurers. While a good portion of the workers were laborers by trade, quite a few were adventurers or mercenaries with ties to Zar and his business. They had faced far more fearsome monsters than simple swarms of rats, and it showed in the way they methodically went about removing any rodent they came across.


    The ranged specialists were the worst. While the rats offered smaller targets than they usually aimed at, the poor creatures didn¡¯t have the reflexes or durability of larger more powerful monsters either. The sheer force put behind an arrow or thrown knife was enough to obliterate a rat even if it was hit off-center. Fortunately for Alpha and his offspring, ranged combatants were rare in the Sands. Far too many of the monsters either had camouflage or defenses capable of turning normal projectiles aside, and while archers would shine against other monsters, there were simply too many occasions where they would simply be dead weight. That wasn¡¯t the case at the Oasis, and it didn¡¯t take long for the rats to pick up a healthy fear of anyone carrying a bow or a sling.


    The melee combatants were feared as well, if to a lesser degree. Years of fighting had pushed their physical capability further than Kairen had thought possible, and if any of the rats were caught out in the open it became a simple matter for the slavers to run them down with their superior physical attributes and size.


    While they were outmatched in simple combat, the rats weren¡¯t completely helpless before the onslaught. Under Kairen¡¯s guidance they began to alter their habits, becoming active later and later at night, taking advantage of the dark and the slavers¡¯ need to sleep. Even with the humans¡¯ supplies locked away there were still plenty of plants and insects around for the desert rats to gather, making sure that all the rats were well fed and ensuring that the rat mothers could continue to birth litters of rats freely. In a perverse twist the pressure the humans put on the desert rats was actually beneficial for the rodents. They had been pushing the limits of their population capacity before, straining the limits of the Oasis to provide for their needs, and the death of so many rats saved them from the cruel fate of death by overconsumption.


    The relative abundance of food and the lack of predators had also made the younger generations of rats lazy. While Alpha and his ilk had their increased intelligence and awareness to keep them interested in the world around them, most of the rats were only focused on enjoying their next meal, sometimes not even bothering to retreat to their nest to do so. They had no need for stealth, no need for caution, no need to push their capabilities to the limits until the slavers reintroduced the threat of death. Suddenly only the stealthiest quickest rats were left, and the difference in quality readily showed itself.


    That quality was aided by Kairen¡¯s blessings. The Endurance blessing was the most obvious, given the way the rats could pour their energy into a task long past the point any other small creature would have collapsed or gotten bored, but as Kairen invested into the other blessings their benefits began to show as well. The education blessing didn¡¯t let the rats learn how to read or write, but it did aid their ability to memorize paths and hidey-holes as well as picking up new tricks. One unfortunate store room had been secured with a simple lock instead of the sturdy crossbars employed for the other structures, and while the solid bolt and complex mechanisms stymied the rats at first, Alpha managed to figure out its working with the help of Kairen. Alpha¡¯s nimble fingers could reach inside the lock to grab the pins and push them into place, and turning the lock was made possible by using a bent stick for leverage. Due to the caution he had managed to convey to Alpha it took Zar three days to realize that supplies were going missing from that specific storage house, and soon after a bar was added to cut off access.


    A level of the Martial blessing didn¡¯t help the desert rats fight back against the humans at all, but it did make a difference in the mammals¡¯ hunting habits. The increased combat capability with claw and fang gave them the confidence they needed to go after larger prey, taking down lizards and birds that were almost as large as the rats themselves.


    The magic blessing didn¡¯t have any obvious effect, not that Kairen had expected anything significant from it. Magic was something that took years for humans to learn to use correctly, and while his rats were definitely smarter than normal desert rats he knew they didn¡¯t possess the same capacity for complex thought that people did. When their innate inability to use chants to help focus their magic was taken into consideration, Kairen figured he wouldn¡¯t be seeing any miniature fireballs in the near future.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    In the distant future Kairen had hopes that the magical potential from his blessing would manifest in other ways than spellcasting. Combined with his ability to add magical plants to the rats¡¯ regular diet, Kairen was hopeful that eventually one of the litters would contain a rat with an innate magical ability, such as natural camouflage or minor teleportation. The sheer number of rats that could be born and the speed at which the desert rats reached maturity made such developments likely to happen in a reasonable timeframe for Kairen to take advantage of. Alpha¡¯s ability to see and listen to Kairen was likely one such mutation, one that had been caused by eating his corpse but had somehow managed to breed true. If nothing else, Kairen was hopeful that the Magic blessing would increase the number of rat followers available to him and help ensure the ability didn¡¯t die out.


    Skills were similar to magic, as both were abilities beyond the capability of a normal body, but the rats had immediately benefitted from the blessing. Only one in a hundred rats actually developed even a basic skill, but that still gave Kairen three rats capable of acting as his special forces, able to accomplish tasks that the slavers wouldn¡¯t think possible. Miner could practically fly through the ground, and Kairen saw the least of him, busy as he was expanding the warrens the rats had established. Ramses'' reinforced walls were beyond Miner¡¯s ability to dig through for the moment, but Kairen did his best to pay attention to the rat¡¯s slowly increasing capabilities, ready to put a few plans into action once that equation changed.


    Theta had developed the ability to run on the pond, a skill she took full advantage of when playing tag with her fellow rats. A few times Kairen joined her on her expeditions, wading through the pond next to her, enjoying her simple delight in defying the natural order of the world. Only once did he yell at her, when she dodged onto the lake to avoid an adventurer chasing after her, after she stole some bread from him. Kairen had been mad not because she had revealed her ability to the slavers, but because her life had come far closer to ending than he was comfortable thinking about.


    The final rat to develop a skill was Scarlett. Kairen had named her after she had been rescued from Rab and his cruel knife, but Scarlett was unable to see or hear Kairen directly, and had little interest in listening to Alpha or any of the other rats Kairen asked to convey information. Her personal injuries at the hands of Rab drove her forwards more intensely than any other rat, pushing her to dangerously risky feats all to irritate her nemesis. Her developed Skill allowed her to move as if she were completely boneless, slipping through the smallest of holes and ensuring she would never be caught by human hand again. Kairen knew it was only a matter of time until her luck ran out, and all he could do was wish her the best of luck in the meantime. Rab¡¯s almost continuous cursing and foul mood pointed to her initial success, but every raid Scarlett undertook brought her that little bit closer to death.


    While three rats had manifested new skills, none of the slavers had. Kairen knew part of it was that Zar and his adventurer minions had likely already developed their essential skills, the three or four abilities that allowed them to confidently face monsters. The rest of the reason simply came down to laziness. The living rats were those willing to work hard to stay alive, and every waking moment was one where they were pushing their body to the limits to gather food, to expand their nests, to harass the humans, or simply to socialize with other rats. Their willingness to push their limits far exceeded that of the humans to do the same. The workers and adventurers already had expectations of their limits, and instead of challenging those limits were content to simply coast along, taking it easier than they could. Kairen knew that eventually his blessing would make the difference between a slaver gaining a skill and not gaining one, but he was positive his rats benefitted far more from the investment than the slavers ever would.


    It wasn¡¯t anything the boy could actually pin down as completely accurate, but Kairen suspected that the blessings provided a flat increase to ability. Each blessing provided a small increase to stamina, to intelligence, to compatibility, and to magic and skill potential. Small bonuses, that is, for a human. An extra half hour of work didn¡¯t change much for a busy human, but gave the much weaker rats an almost endless pool of energy to pull from. For the weak, stupid, magicless creatures the blessings elevated them to a completely new level. Kairen had only ever heard of a few creatures that had picked up skills of their own, legendary mounts or beasts only found in stories. In every case the creature had taken years to develop their abilities, not due to a lack of effort, but simply because most animals did not possess sufficient ability to learn skills. Humans had all the ability to learn skills that they could ask for, while that same innate ability was the only thing his rats and other animals were lacking.


    There were limits that Kairen knew he hadn¡¯t found yet. Even in the best of circumstances it was rare for rats to live longer than two years, giving them a far shorter window to push their abilities to the absolute limits and develop high tier skills. While his rats were more creative than most, Kairen also doubted their ability to envision and pursue truly unique skills. It was one thing to develop abilities that enhanced what a person or rat could already do, be it running, or digging, or swinging a sword. It was another thing entirely to pursue the impossible, to practice and pursue an unreachable goal long enough to make it reality. Singing so sweet it could heal wounds and sickness, sword maneuvers that cut enemies a hundred feet away, and cooking that conjured missing ingredients out of thin air were just some of what masters of their craft were capable of.


    Even if his rats would never reach that level of mastery, Kairen was eager to see what abilities they would learn in the future. Even small tricks played at the right time could make all the difference in the world, and Kairen looked forward to seeing just how frustrated Zar could get as his plans continued to run into unexpected obstacles.

 Chapter 46: Kairen

    One aspect of the afterlife that Kairen wasn¡¯t sure he would ever get used to was the inability to be noticed. He could sometimes pretend like he was still living, simply enjoying a quiet moment on the outskirts of a meal or evening gathering, but at other times his isolation was made blatantly obvious. Having people walk right through him wasn¡¯t physically painful, but served as a rude reminder of his current state of being. It did have its upsides, the boy thought, as he sat on the ground in Zar¡¯s house, watching as the man stormed around while holding a magical speaking stone. Kairen had arrived too late to get an introduction to whoever was on the other end, but the conversation he was eavesdropping on was enlightening, to say the least.


    ¡°Just rats?¡± Zar roared, clenching his free hand in frustration. ¡°I¡¯ve dealt with just rats¡¯ before. Cleaning out rat infestations is one of the first missions the adventurer guild sends the newbies on. If this was ¡®just rats¡¯ I would have sent you dozens of rat shish kebabs two months ago!¡±


    ¡°And the nomads didn¡¯t say anything about it?¡± The stranger on the other end of the device asked, his voice calm and in control.


    Zar growled. ¡°They were in a hurry to leave the second time I came here, and it didn¡¯t come up at all the first time. Probably wasn¡¯t a problem then, given how fast these fuckers repopulate. I¡¯ve had Ramses collapse their dens twice and had him bring it all up to the surface once, and they still haven¡¯t died off, wised up, or headed elsewhere. They¡¯re definitely smarter than regular rats, and I think they might be starting to get a bit of magic in them.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t surprise me.¡± The man mused, and the sound of rustling papers was heard briefly. ¡°I went digging in the historical archives after our last conversation, and it¡¯s not the first time something like this has occurred. Well, something similar anyways. The famous Adventurer Suleman details coming across a lush garden in the middle of the desert, filled with all sorts of trees and bushes and with waist high grass filling in the rest of the space. Hidden away from first glance was a small pool, cast in shade by overhanging trees and filled with pure water.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like an Oasis to me. So what, did he turn it into a settlement, the predecessor of Savar or one of its sister states?¡± Zar grunted, urging the man to get to his point.


    ¡°Oh no, not at all. This is where his account gets interesting.¡± The voice on the other end of the conversation paused for a moment to build up tension, before continuing in an oratorical tone as he read a section from Suleman¡¯s writing.


    ¡°The water we found might well have saved our lives, but I find myself unhappy about the hidden cost. What seemed to be a lush paradise at first glance had already been claimed, and the residents were not happy with our presence. Tigers, far more than I would have thought could reside in such a small area, but no simple beasts were these. A spark of unholy intelligence gleamed in their eyes when they chose to reveal themselves, and they possessed an uncanny sense for tactics, taking down and dragging off three adventurers whose competency I would have rated quite highly. There simply was nothing they could do against the apex predators, which were impossible to spot through the thick foliage until it was too late.¡±


    Finished with the selected passage, the man paused for a moment, coughing to clear his throat before continuing in his regular voice. ¡°He goes on with his thoughts, and towards the end he admits that it is only his speculation, but he believes that the tigers had some ability or magic to hide them from view, to prevent Suleman¡¯s high level scout from immediately spotting the danger.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± Zar sounded half impressed. ¡°That does sound like a hellhole and a half. Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve seen any invisible rats yet, not that that means much.¡±


    The stranger snorted at the weak attempt at a joke. ¡°No, it does not. I can¡¯t say why this phenomenon is occurring at Zaros, or why it doesn¡¯t seem to be as problematic in Savar or any other settled Oases, but theoretically if you do manage to eradicate the rats completely that should be the end of things. No need to worry about snakes or rabbits suddenly gaining unnatural abilities.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Zar drawled sarcastically. ¡°I just have to completely eradicate a species that lives underground, reproduces like a plague, can sniff out poison, and is beginning to develop unusual abilities that make it even harder to kill them. I¡¯d almost prefer to face the tigers. They might be more of a threat, but I could actually kill them for once.¡±


    There¡¯s a long pause where the only sound able to be heard is that of a scratching quill. Eventually the stranger speaks. ¡°Well, whatever you plan to do about your rodent infestation, I¡¯d do it quickly if I were you. Now that their personal Pathfinders are back and know the way to Zaros the nobles are putting the finishing touches on their caravans. Pretty soon you¡¯ll have all sorts of new headaches to deal with as all those entitled brats arrive with their entourages. Nothing is quite so annoying as a third son demanding respect for who his father is.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡± Zar groaned. ¡°The housing for them is as finished as it''s going to get, basic though it is, but I still need to put together a raiding party to go and take over a village or two. Hard to call this is a slave market if I don¡¯t have any slaves to sell, after all.¡±


    ¡°Will you be needing my assistance? I should be able to lend you some decent fighters for the right price. Nothing you couldn¡¯t afford.¡± The stranger sounded interested in the idea.


    ¡°No, no.¡± Zar quickly answered him. ¡°You¡¯ve invested enough in this venture already. It will take years to pay you back fully, and that¡¯s if everything goes smoothly. If we run into more problems like these fucking rats, then let¡¯s just say I have a healthy respect for your reputation.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± The man accepted Zar¡¯s argument with just a hint of doubt in his tone.


    The adventurer hurried to reassure his backer. ¡°It should be fine. Rao and I have been to plenty of settlements that were too large to be worth the effort when we were shipping the slaves directly to Savar, but the shorter distance to Zaros should work in our favor. Combined with the additional mercenaries we¡¯ve already hired on to guard and develop the Oasis and it shouldn¡¯t take much more than a week to round up the first batch of slaves. The main thing we¡¯re waiting on at the moment is making sure that the slave pen is securely locked down, but there have been other obligations on Ramses¡¯ time.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± was the noncommittal response. ¡°If you can handle the threats and complaints the upper class will throw your way, I can tell you that they will be bringing a few mages in their entourage. Don¡¯t ask me for their talents or spells, but hopefully you can persuade them to help you fix your various problems, when they aren¡¯t busy misting the air or creating breezes for their masters.¡±


    ¡°Sounds about right.¡± Zar sighed. ¡°Anything else heading my way that I should know about?¡±


    The stranger rummaged through his papers once more. ¡°There have been rumors of a new Oasis in a couple of other cities, likely due to your trade with Luxor, but so far nowhere else has anyone offering transportation to Zaros. Don¡¯t be surprised if a few trailblazers appear over the next week as they try and work out Paths to your Oasis for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Noted. I¡¯ll try and leave them alive.¡± Zar grimaced. Kairen knew the adventurer wanted more time to get everything set up, but he needed those trade routes to begin to form. The people who had loaned him money and other resources only had so much patience after all, and wouldn¡¯t be happy until Zar was sending them returns on a regular basis.


    ¡°One last thing, and then I¡¯ll leave you to your work. You¡¯ve mentioned that the Oasis has stopped growing, correct?¡± The backer asked, wanting to be sure his information was correct before continuing.


    ¡°Yep.¡± Zar easily confirmed the fact for the stranger. ¡°The nomads claimed that it was growing pretty regularly before I showed up, and it definitely was larger when I came back the second time, but it hasn¡¯t done much since. Ramses says he can feel some sort of magic happening occasionally, but he doesn¡¯t know enough to tell me what it actually is doing.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the clarification.¡± The person on the other end of the conversation took a second to write some notes down. ¡°I believe I have a solution for both of those problems. Mr. Mage is a ritual mage in my employ, with unique talents that let him take care of all sorts of unusual problems for me.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Mage?¡± Zar snorted at the obvious pseudonym.


    ¡°That is the only name you need to know for him. I¡¯ll make arrangements for him to accompany the first group heading from Savar to Zaros. Upon arriving he will make his presence known to you, and you will provide him with anything he needs to accomplish his work. And I do mean anything. Money, materials, workers. If he asks for it make sure he gets it. Make a note of it and we can discuss costs later, but if Mr. Mage needs your left foot for whatever reason I expect you to cut it off yourself right then and there. Are we clear?¡± Towards the end of his speech the stranger''s voice approaches a frigid tone, and Kairen shivers, even though he isn¡¯t the target of the threat ladened question.


    ¡°Crystal.¡± Zar forces out between gritted teeth, not enjoying being treated so heavy handedly.


    ¡°Good!¡± The stranger resumed his cheerful attitude with a speed that made the threat that much more unnerving. ¡°Not only does Mr. Mage possess the magical knowledge to identify whatever working the Oasis is currently involved in, but over the course of his employment he has learned a thing or two about Oases in general. The great temple of Ing, Luxor, Savar, Ashwan, Rojore, and all the other cities built around those magical springs all have claims of having some control over the benefits that the Oases provide.¡±


    The man snorted in derision. ¡°Most of what they claim is dross, of course, but for the discerning mind there is gold to be found, and Mr. Mage is highly discerning. It won¡¯t be easy or cheap, but with his expertise you should be able to shape the Oasis in such a way as to advance your goals.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Is there anything else you wish to discuss? Or are we done for now?¡± Zar prompted.


    ¡°I believe that is everything. You may go.¡± The stranger answered before abruptly cutting off the conversation, leaving Zar holding a silent piece of rock.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± The adventurer hissed out, somehow restraining himself from yelling or throwing the magical artifact. Carefully he placid it back in a box on his desk, which was carefully locked and stored away. Kairen let out a little sigh of disappointment. He had been hoping to direct Alpha to steal the speaking device, but Zar made that almost impossible.


    The adventurer, still in a bad mood, left the tent. The Oasis had been transformed over the past two months, with rough framework houses covering most of the grassy area. As Zar had told his backer, they were ready to be lived in, with solid roofs and walls, but lacked the decoration or appliances to make them comfortable or appealing. The orderly rows of houses and streets gave the appearance of a well-designed city, even if it was still lacking in people to populate it. A few of the workers had started their own side business, and could be found selling food or simple goods out of the small houses they had been given.


    Woven baskets and hats were especially popular, taking advantage of the large amount of grass and the rapid pace of regrowth the Oasis provided, but clay pots and toys were popular products as well. Clay dice in particular sold rapidly and were used often, but the quality of craftsmanship led to more than one fight, especially when the betting stakes were higher than usual. It was hard to tell the difference between shoddy craftsmanship and an intentionally skewed die, and it took Zar stepping in before a solution was found.


    Two rules in particular made the games slightly more complicated, but removed most of the contention. Any die had to be rolled twenty times where everyone could see before being used in a game, and anyone could demand to use any dice that were present. Complaints still came up, but the discontent was directed more at the craftsmen than the poor individuals who had been sold shoddy dice.


    Zar wasn¡¯t interested in playing games of chance, or swimming in the pond, or having an early meal. He made his way over to the small arena that had been set up, eager and ready to fight. With nothing better to do, Kairen followed along behind him.


    The arena had originally been an open space for the adventurers to practice with their weapons and skills, but without many other forms of entertainment the irregular workers had gotten into the habit of dropping by to watch the spars. From there it hadn¡¯t taken long for seating to be added, and incentivized by money the adventurers were soon fighting more aggressively than was probably safe, especially without a dedicated healer. Zar had simply arranged for one of his subordinates to be in charge of the betting pool, and had split off a portion for himself and a separate portion to subsidize the cost of healing potions for the competitors.


    Zar wasn¡¯t technically banned from taking part in the fights, but his combat ability was simply beyond that of any other adventurer. It hadn¡¯t taken long for the workers to realize this and simply not bet against him. It didn¡¯t take much longer for the other fighters to lose their interest in fighting him at all. Unfortunately for them, Zar didn¡¯t mind using his authority for his own benefit.


    ¡°You, you, and you with the spear!¡± He roared out. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a workout and you¡¯re going to give it to me!¡±


    Kairen simply shook his head and took a seat. As much as he wanted Zar to get hurt, he¡¯d just have to content himself with watching the show like everyone else.

 Chapter 47: Kairen

    Mr. Mage did not look like Kairen had expected him to. Ramses was the only other magic user the boy had seen in person, but stories and tales had given him a certain image of a mage. Elderly, physically unassuming, ready to use their minds more than their muscles, none of that described the ritualist from Savar.


    Mr. Mage was a hulking specimen of masculinity. Standing tall at six feet and seven inches, his broad frame was packed with muscles that rippled as he moved. Intricate tattoos befitting a barbarian were proudly displayed across his bare chest as if the giant was impervious to the heat or the glare of the sun. Mr. Mage¡¯s voice was loud and deep, commanding attention as it boomed across the Oasis. The short, firm answers he gave to the mercenary questioning his presence brooked no further description. One single detail, however, ensured that no one would mistake the giant for a simple fighter.


    Scarred pits were all that remained of the ritualist¡¯s eyes, deep pockets of darkened flesh that sat unnaturally on his face. The longer Kairen stared in horror, the deeper the holes seemed to be, until they were bottomless pits that should have cut through the back of Mr. Mage¡¯s head, only to return to normal when Kairen blinked.


    Kairen had expected the mage to blend in with the rest of the caravan arriving at the Oasis, but seeing the mage in person made him realize just how flawed that assumption was. This was a person who reveled in being different, who enjoyed displaying every accomplishment and point of superiority that separated him from the common masses. He may or may not have made his mission public, but Kairen was sure that rumors about the man would rapidly spread through the local population, and that by this time tomorrow everyone would recognize the mage as someone significant.


    Instead of making his way straight to Zar¡¯s office, Mr. Mage instead went on a complete tour of the Oasis, stopping every now and then to inspect the plants on the ground, mumbling softly to himself in a language that Kairen couldn¡¯t recognize. Despite not having eyes to navigate with the mage seemed perfectly comfortable and was obviously capable of observing his surroundings. In fact, whatever sense Mr. Mage was making use of was in some ways more effective than eyesight. Kairen watched in fascination as the strange mage cast a simple spell. It sounded similar to some of Ramses¡¯ invocations and the earth buckling slightly proved that it was also some sort of earth manipulation spell. Instead of creating walls or barriers wholesale, Mr. Mage¡¯s spell affected a far smaller area, but did so with a level of speed and precision that Ramses had yet to display.


    A small ball of earth was pulled from the ground and floated over to the mage¡¯s waiting hand, where it slowly crumbled, revealing a helpless rat, its limbs locked in place by earthen shackles. For almost a minute Mr. Mage silently stared at the creature, slowly turning it around as he did so to inspect every square inch of the rodent. Satisfied with whatever results he found, the ritualists reached down with his free hand towards his belt, where he pulled out a curved knife that gleamed with menace. Completely oblivious to the small crowd of workers that had begun to gather the mage set the rat down on the ground before he split the rat in two with the impossibly sharp knife. The rat died instantly, but the ritualist observed the remain for a good ten minutes, completely absorbed in whatever messages he could glean from the scattered entrails.


    Complaining about the brief slice of entertainment, the crowd dispersed during that time, but Kairen found himself unable to move. The behaviors that Mr. Mage displayed were simply alien, and as much as the boy wanted to simply head elsewhere and pretend that the ritualist wasn¡¯t actually present Kairen knew he had to pay close attention to the man and his strange magics, magic that would soon be targeted at the Oasis itself, and by extension, Kairen himself.


    Finally finished with his haruspicy, Mr. Mage stood up, before making his way towards the pool at the center of the Oasis. Kairen was gratified when the mage decided not to enter himself, but instead simply knelt on the shore and slowly drank a cupped handful of water. While a vindictive part of Kairen¡¯s mind would have like to have the mage lose his clothing to the enchantment, he far preferred having as little contact with the giant as possible. Fortunately, it seemed that a few sips of water was enough to give the mage the information he was looking for, and finally finished with his tour, Mr. Mage began to make his way towards Zar¡¯s house.


    ¡°Can you direct me to Zar Bloodwake¡¯s location?¡± The mage boomed at a passing mercenary. Kairen left the two behind as the poor fighter tried to get out a cohesive set of directions. Knowing that the mage would catch up, the ghost took the time to sneak into Zar''s open office, eager to see the adventurer¡¯s reaction to the giant mage.


    ¡°Greetings!¡± Mr. Mage bellowed as he ducked into the room, the unexpected noise causing Zar to jump slightly, one hand reaching for his weapon.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Blast it! You were supposed to come here two hours ago when the caravan arrived, not now when I¡¯m working through logistics paperwork.¡± Zar cursed.


    Mr. Mage simply chuckled. ¡°We could not have had the discussion we needed to at that time. Your description of the goings on to my master were inadequate for my purposes. Having seen this Oasis for myself, I am confident I can solve all your issues.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good news.¡± Zar cautiously started to speak. ¡°But how much is it going to cost me?¡±


    ¡°Not much at all! Do not worry, you will not be ruined.¡± Mr. Mage reassured the adventurer. ¡°This Oasis is young and weak. You will not need to throw grand festival or week-long orgy. One slave is all it will take to guide its growth.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Zar. sighed angrily.


    ¡°You have not gone on raid yet?¡± The ritualist shook his head sorrowfully. ¡°My master will be so disappointed. Have no fear. Raid will be easy with me along.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kind offer.¡± Zar managed to get out through gritted teeth. ¡°I¡¯m sure your help will be quite useful, but the slave raid and controlling the magic of the Oasis are only some of the problems I have. What can you do about the blasted rats that keep slowing everything down?¡±


    ¡°Rats?¡± Mr. Mage sounded surprised. ¡°Oh! Those rats! They are not a problem.¡±


    ¡°NOT A PROBLEM?!¡± Zar yelled, unable to contain his anger any longer. ¡°Those damned animals are everywhere, eating our food, getting into our clothes and other supplies, and generally being a nuisance. They aren¡¯t natural either. They¡¯ve tunneled under my house and squeak the whole night to keep me from sleeping. It doesn¡¯t matter how many traps I place or rats I kill. It doesn¡¯t matter where I move my mattress. They always find me, and they never stop.¡±


    A loud chittering is heard from the floor in response to the rant, before fading into silence. For a long pause the two humans stare at each other, the disheveled adventure unable to meet the gaze of the mage¡¯s empty eye sockets. The sheer strangeness of that look seemed to help Zar calm down, and soon he sank back into his seat, taking a long swig from a cup on his desk as he did so. Kairen laughed long and loud, grateful that the humans can¡¯t hear him. The ghost had suggested the various annoyances to the rats, but he hadn¡¯t known they would be so effective. Seeing Zar lose his temper like that was absolutely worth the time it had taken him to teach Alpha and his kin.


    ¡°As I said.¡± Mr. Mage continued speaking as if nothing had happened. ¡°Is not a problem. Without Oasis magic they are just rats. We take control of magic, kill two birds with one stone.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to explain that further, because I¡¯m not seeing the connection.¡± Zar looked at the mage, his voice calmer after his outburst.


    ¡°Oasis Magic benefits those who live in Oasis. This much is obvious. Details not so much. Rats live here before you, they get magic. You come in and set up houses, you also get magic. Rats unable to drive you away to deny it to you. You unable to kill enough rats and deny it to them. Few rats die, no one cares, not even rats. Poison maybe work, ritual maybe work, but much effort for no guarantee.¡± The ritualist pauses his explanation for a moment, to make sure that Zar is following along.


    ¡°Control of Oasis does many things. Make Oasis grow or change. Shape magic to suit needs. Change rules of how things work. Suddenly rats not residents, simply pests. No magic for pests, no problem for you.¡± Mr. Mage nodded affirmatively once he was done with his explanation.


    ¡°No problems.¡± Zar drawled. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re wrong, but this whole control of the Oasis thing introduces a new set of problems for me, if you follow what I¡¯m saying. Once you do your ritual business who exactly will be controlling the Oasis?¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± The mage frowned. ¡°I see the point. My rituals control the Oasis. You worry I use that for betrayal. Let me think.¡±


    Kairen watched as Mr. Mage visible thought through the matter, his face scrunching up or shifting expressions every few seconds. Zar wasn¡¯t quite as patient and soon was drumming the desk with the fingers of one hand. Eventually Mr. Mage froze for a few seconds, before shaking his head.


    ¡°No easy way. Hard ways, yes, but still need trust. Making things up too easy, you know too little. Judgement Stone probably best choice. You know screen already, even if different for Oasis.¡±


    Kairen felt his heart freeze. He really didn¡¯t want Mr. Mage or Zar to see what his screen looked like. Not because there was anything dangerous he was trying to hide, but simply because it was his, something that belonged to him alone. Immediately Kairen began thinking of plans and methods to have the rats sabotage everything, before his mind remembered one important fact.


    Zar realized it as well. ¡°That would be quite useful, if we had happened to have a Judgement stone available. Unfortunately, the nearest one is in Luxor, and I don¡¯t think stealing theirs or waiting three months for a carver to make a new one is in our schedule.¡± A subtle challenge was hidden in his words. Everyone knew that Mr. Mage¡¯s master had ordered Zar to do whatever he could to accommodate the ritualist¡¯s demands. Kairen and Zar both turned towards Mr. Mage to see how he would react.


    The big mage simply showed a small smile, staring at Zar with his empty eyes. ¡°I have workaround, but not as good. Will take much gold, though.¡± Kairen personally doubted the gold would actually be used for the workaround, but Zar seemed satisfied with the compromise.


    Standing up, he approached the larger mage and began to subtly maneuver him out of Zar¡¯s office. ¡°Very well. I will let you know once I have the raid organized, likely in a day or two. Until then I suggest you make yourself at home. There are plenty of empty buildings you can claim as your own residence, and my personal mage Ramses is around if you wish to discuss magical theory with someone else.¡±


    Recognizing the dismissal for what it was the mage gave a small bow, and left the room. Kairen tagged along behind, curious to see what the strange giant would do next.

 Chapter 48: Kairen

    One unexpected benefit of being unable to leave the Oasis was that Kairen didn¡¯t have to follow along when Zar went raiding. No matter how much useful information he might be able to learn by acting as an observer, the ghost was simply glad that he didn¡¯t have to convince himself to go. He knew he was still affected by the attack that had cost him his family and his home, no matter how much he might try to pretend it never happened, and he was happy to distract himself from his problems for as long as he could.


    When Zar and Mr. Mage came back Kairen knew they wouldn¡¯t waste any time before enacting the ritual to control the Oasis, but at the same time Kairen didn¡¯t really have anything he could do to prepare or prevent it from happening. Alpha and the other rats were quickly picking up the basics of guerilla warfare and were a constant thorn in the side of the slavers, but the most they could do would be to slow the ritual down by literally throwing their lives away. It was too high a price for too little gain and Kairen simply let the rats be. He had tried to explain the danger coming their way and had pleaded with them to leave while they could, but none of the desert rats had taken him up on the offer. Instead, they had gathered around him in a show of support that bolstered the boy¡¯s spirits as he prepared for the worst. He wasn¡¯t willing to give up without a fight and had one last trick left to play. Ever since Kairen had learned how the system forced a random option to be chosen he had tested himself against it, letting his upgrade points reach their maximum time and time again, pitting his will against that of the system and only making his choice when he felt like he couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer.


    Kairen didn¡¯t have a timepiece to say for certain, and the discomfort involved made his own sense of time unreliable, but it felt like his ability to resist was improving. It was an untested hope, but Kairen was optimistic about his chances to endure whatever ritual the foreign mage implemented to usurp control. Instead of spending his time worrying the boy wandered around the slowly developing streets of Zaros. Ramses hadn¡¯t had the time or the inclination to pave or otherwise harden the ground, but as the workers went to and from the building sites they were working at they steadily wore their own trails into their ground, packing the dirt and grinding away the plants growing there until only brown soil remained. Buckets of water from the pond were poured out daily to prevent too much dust from building up, and combined with Kairen¡¯s ability to deflect outside sand from being carried in on the wind the air in the Oasis was clear and welcoming. The people arriving from Savar added another aspect of life to the place, as they slowly built their new home. Most of the laborers from Savar were hired by one noble family or another with the goal of improving their designated buildings to the point of livability, or as Kairen saw it, stupid levels of opulence. Extravagant wooden decorations and intricate painted details were the easiest improvements, requiring very little in terms of resources that needed to be moved across the desert, but Kairen had overheard talk of building entire structures out of stone or rare woods such as teak or ironwood, for no better reason than to win an arbitrary competition over the other nobles.


    Of more interest to Kairen was the completed schoolhouse or academy, even though it wasn¡¯t seeing any use yet. While some children had arrived in the Oasis, they were either the children of nobles and received private lessons, or were the children of workers and were kept busy help their parents either around the house or with their jobs. Kairen had caught both groups of children looking longingly at the pool, but to actually play in it was too unseemly for the noble children, and was cause for a beating the one time a poor boy tried. Instead, the latter kept themselves busy with all sorts of games, half of which Kairen swore they made up on the spot, but eagerly listened to the rules of and watched to pass the time. Kairen did his best to focus the efforts of the rats and their war on the slavers themselves, but rat hunting was quickly becoming a popular past-time for Oasis residents of all ages. Not only did the rats¡¯ increased intelligence offer an interesting challenge compared to regular ratting, but Zar¡¯s continued inability to eradicate the rodents had led to steadily increasing bounties on dead rats. Kairen did his best to be optimistic for his little friends, but it was hard when he saw gangs of children running down the streets armed for war with all manner of traps and thrown weaponry. The rats themselves were only minimally concerned with the threat and seemed to treat it as just another fact of life to be accepted and worked around, a stance that Kairen desperately tried to copy.


    On one sunny afternoon one of the named rats, Tau, was keeping a group of kids busy chasing him around the place. The rat was familiar with every nook and cranny of every building and was completely confident in his ability to escape his pursuers at any time. Instead, the rat took great pleasure in leading the children on a merry chase, doing his best to encourage them to run through as many busy areas as possible, disrupting the work happening there in a way that a single rat by himself wouldn¡¯t be able to do. Kairen was enjoying his intangibility, as it allowed him to easily move from vantage point to vantage point as he traveled along behind the procession, easily observing the most memorable of the moments of the chase.


    Kairen¡¯s entertainment was cut short by the guards raising the alarm. Zar had returned, and was bringing captives with him. Immediately all the workers broke away from their tasks to watch the spectacle, and the mercenaries who had stayed behind to guard Zaros made their way towards the approaching train of people to offer their assistance.


    Kairen found himself lagging behind the crowd, unable to stay away but not possessing the eagerness of the living. None of the Savards had been slaves themselves, but they had grown up with the institution and had a casual attitude to it that Kairen found alien. They simply didn¡¯t have a problem with seeing slaves or in fact anyone not from Savar as lesser, whereas Kairen had been in shackles himself not that long ago, even if he had technically avoided becoming a slave. Despite his reluctance, Kairen still made his way to an elevated spot where he could see the caravan coming in, where he could see the captives and remember their faces, the sole person present who could even possibly act as their advocate. It didn¡¯t take long for Kairen to realize that the prisoners were indeed captives, and not yet slaves. Zar¡¯s attack on Kairen¡¯s village had been brutal and bloody enough to break the spirit of all the survivors, or at least temporarily quell it, but whatever had caused these people to stop fighting hadn¡¯t left the same impact. The way their gazes looked defiantly around told Kairen that it was only their chains and the imminent threat of violence that stopped them from starting something right then and there.


    With plenty of threats and a few applications of the whip the slaves were herded into the arena that had been set up, where they were forced to sit down and wait. Kairen took the time to walk amongst them, looking at their faces on the off chance he recognized someone. All the captives were too light skinned to be part of the nomad tribe, a fact that Kairen was quietly grateful for. The longer the prisoners were forced to wait the more on edge they became, but before anyone could start some trouble Zar made his way to the front of the gathered crowd.


    The slaver had taken the time to change from his travelling clothes into something more opulent. Instead of sturdy dull clothes to protect from the elements covered with select pieces of armor the fighter had all his wealth on display, with chains and rings covering every inch he could fit them on and with his glittering sword once again at his waist, replacing his more utilitarian axe. His change in dress didn¡¯t stop the captured villagers from recognizing him as the person responsible for their current situation, and the braver ones began to toss insults, only to be beaten back into silence so that Zar could speak his piece.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°You are my slaves now.¡± The slaver began simply. ¡°It might take you some time to accept this fact of life, but there is no escaping it. In the Sands, only strength matters, and my fighters and I were stronger than the pathetic resistance your village tried to mount. I¡¯m sure all of you have heard the horrors of slavery, but the truth of the matter is that it all depends on how obedient you are. Follow orders and work hard, and you might find your new life to be better than your old one, with access to foods and comforts you never would have had before. Try and resist, or fight back, and all you will accomplish is a personal introduction to all the ways your life can be made a living hell. Not because we want to, but because you leave us with no other option.¡±


    Kairen couldn¡¯t help but snort at the apologetic tone Zar had adopted. It was such a joke to think that the slaver was sad or sorry about inflicting pain on others. The slaver was almost as much of a sadist as he was an avaricious bastard, and the only reason he wasn¡¯t torturing the villagers right now was because he cared more about his bottom line than he did drawing blood. The ghost wasn¡¯t the only one who came to that conclusion.


    ¡°Pull the other one, you cocksucking devil!¡± A brave if foolish young man called out. ¡°I¡¯m amazed you haven¡¯t passed out from all the shit you¡¯ve been snorting!¡±


    A cruel smile gleamed on Zar¡¯s face. ¡°Excellent, a volunteer. It¡¯s so difficult to demonstrate the punishments you should all be striving to avoid without a deserving, upstart who thinks he knows better than me.¡± A quick gesture to the guards had them forcing their way through the crowd to the heckler, who was soon unlocked and brought to the front.


    Zar stared at him until the young man looked away, cowed by the raw cruelty that the slaver freely displayed in his malicious gaze. Satisfied at winning the minor display of dominance, Zar ignored his chosen victim, addressing the remaining slaves-to-be. ¡°I¡¯m sure some of you think you''re strong, capable of handling any punishments we might throw at you, able to wait until just the right moment to try and escape. You are wrong. There are only two paths forwards for you from here. Obedience, or painful death.¡±


    Zar gestured to the side as he spoke those last words, and Kairen had an awful premonition as to what was coming. Mr. Mage hadn¡¯t made an appearance since the raiders had returned, and Kairen just knew that everyone was about to see what the ritualist had been busy with.


    Part of the arena was covered in a tent, which usually served as a resting area and a storage location for spare weapons, bandages and other items useful for training fighters. While Zar had been busy working on his appearance Mr. Mage had repurposed the tent for his own usage. Everything that normally took up space inside had been pushed towards the walls of the tent, and the floor in the center was covered in an intricate array of channels that had been carved into the ground, varying in depth between a half an inch and two inches. Out of morbid curiosity Kairen moved closer, getting a better angle where he could see the arcane runes carved into the ground, symbols the boy had never seen before and would quite happily never see again. The centerpiece of the array was a large rock, a slab of stone that had been acquired from the builders and was covered in tiny red symbols that seemed to move of their own accord. At the four corners of the slab were four pitons that had been driven into the ground, and at Zar¡¯s signal the poor prisoner was slowly dragged towards the tent, struggling the whole way.


    Mr. Mage made his appearance then, a butcher¡¯s apron covering his usually bare chest, with two wicked knives lightly held in his hands. He didn¡¯t speak, but he didn¡¯t need to. The spectacle spoke for itself, as his victim began screaming soon after the ritualist started and stopped only when he breathed his last breath.


    ¡°Remember this.¡± Was Zar¡¯s closing words to the prisoners, who were forced to stand up and were herded towards the slave pens for holding, too shocked to offer much resistance. Zar meanwhile, made his way into the tent, closing the opening behind him. Kairen took a deep breath. He wanted so badly to go elsewhere, to leave and ignore what had happened like he ignored so many other terrible moments. But he couldn¡¯t. Even if they didn¡¯t know it, there were people counting on him and for them he would go into the tent, to learn what he could and to fight against the ritual to keep control of the Oasis.


    The ghost was relieved to see that with the torturous execution completed most of the viscera had been cleaned up, the only remainder was the blood that covered the slab and filled the channels in the ground. It was oversized, but Kairen now realized that the slab was Zar¡¯s crude substitute for a judgement stone, powered by death and blood instead of a simple spell, and that provided far less information in return. The giant mage and Zar were studying the small screen that had appeared, reading over words that Kairen wished he understood. Fortunately for the illiterate ghost Mr. Mage was more than willing to provide narration about what he was doing.


    ¡°As you can see, there are multiple developmental paths possible for all Oases. Some are simple and straightforward, while others are narrower in scope and will require a larger investment of time and resources before you begin to see the benefits of your choice.¡± The mage demonstrated some of the different options, pushing and pulling the screen to make the words change.


    Zar quickly picked up on the motion and took his own turn. ¡°Resort, trade center, army training facility, collegium, magical research¡­ What are all these options? Why are they there? I thought Oases were natural, you know?¡±


    ¡°Zar. You know so little, and it is only your unusual circumstances that afford you this opportunity to learn of secrets most would prefer lost to time. After all, what would the masses do if they knew just how much their rulers were keeping hidden from them. Or in some cases, how much their rulers don¡¯t even know themselves, fumbling their way through with half remembered rituals and procedures with no understanding of their deeper meanings.¡±


    The mage paused for a deep breath, before fixing Zar with his eyeless gaze. ¡°The knowledge I am sharing with you has cost me much, and it is only thanks to my master¡¯s grace that this bounty is shared with you. Remember that as you proceed with this venture. Now, if my memory serves me correctly, there are a couple options that might fit your needs, but the most broadly applicable is likely this one.¡± Mr. Mage quickly paged through a dozen pages of text before stopping on one that was longer than the rest.


    ¡°Slave plantation.¡± Zar read aloud, before continuing through the description, speaking the highlights to ingrain them in his mind. ¡°Large area, bountiful crops, plenty of water. Slaves work longer, that¡¯s good. Increased loyalty to overseer is excellent. And an enchantment that makes it impossible to leave the Oasis except through designated exits? The sooner the better!¡±


    Zar reached forward to confirm his selection, and Kairen watched as the screen in front of the slaver vanished, only to be suddenly set upon by his own screen. The horror of the spectacle had distracted him at the time, but the public execution of a prisoner was a significant event, more so considering the watching crowd and all the effort that Mr. Mage had put into his ritual. Kairen should have gained upgrade points from that immediately, but somehow the ritual had held it back, at least until Zar had made his choice.


    Now those points poured into Kairen¡¯s limited pool, filling him to the point of overflowing. As usual the system immediately appeared, but instead of randomly rotating between all purchasable upgrades it was only cycling between a few, and it didn¡¯t take long for Kairen to realize the connection between those few and the benefits that Zar had listed. To be examined later were the ghostly upgrades that had appeared in the fourth tier, with lines connecting them to various parts of Kairen¡¯s existing upgrades. The ghost only had a moment to take it all in before the pressure to choose began to eat away at him, and if he hadn¡¯t used every previous upgrade as a chance to prepare for this, knowingly or not, he would have buckled beneath the strain. Somehow he managed to stay alert. Pushing back against the pressure to choose, his finger slowly rose, before making contact with an upgrade that wasn¡¯t one of the ones suggested.


    The mental pressure doubled, but Kairen remained firm. This was his system, his choice of upgrade, and he wasn¡¯t about to let anyone else come in and tell him what to do. That defiant thought was the tipping point needed, and Kairen felt the screen vanish through half closed eyes. Barely conscious, the boy pulled up the sheet just long enough to confirm that the Skill blessing had been purchased before letting the pain carry him away.

 Chapter 49: Kairen

    Fortunately for Kairen, he was only unconscious for a few minutes. With the ritual complete and with Kairen spending upgrade points to drop below his maximum the painful pressure on the ghost had vanished, and he rapidly recovered, just in time to catch the last part of a conversation between Zar and Mr. Mage.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Zar asked skeptically.


    ¡°You saw what I did. You read screen too.¡± Mr. Mage shrugged, his bare skin rippling. ¡°Just need time now. I come back in few months, maybe buy slave if you have pretty one for me.¡±


    ¡°Is there any way to speed up the process?¡± Zar prodded the ritualist.


    ¡°Maybe. Kill more slaves? Hard to say. Rules not understood fully.¡± The mage answered after a few seconds of thought. ¡°Otherwise more people is good. Bigger Zaros is better Oasis gets. I go now. My master will want report in person.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Zar drawled, a hint of frustration entering his voice. ¡°He always gets what he wants, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    Mr. Mage shook a finger at the smaller adventurer. ¡°Do not disrespect my master. Without his wealth and resources neither of us would be here today.¡±


    Before Zar could either apologize or throw additional insults Mr. Mage had opened the tent and left. By the time Zar got up and left the tent himself the ritualist''s long stride and a bit of minor magic had carried him all the way across the arena. Seeing this, Zar simply sighed and left the arena himself at a slower pace, making his way back to his office. The adventurer still hadn¡¯t formed any governmental positions for the Oasis, and for the moment was the only person taking care of administrative issues. The slave raid had been successful, but now Zar as the person in charge had to create and organize a system to keep track of the various slaves and their condition even as he tried to reshape them into a more useful form.


    Kairen had no interest in learning about the mundanities of evil, and left at that point, finding a quiet spot on the pond where he could sit and think for a while. The sun overhead made him tingle lightly, and it was easy for the boy to simply passively enjoy his environment as his mind focused on other things.


    Mr. Mage¡¯s magic had been a brutal vile thing. Kairen fixed that fact firmly in his mind. No matter how much benefit he or anyone else derived from it, it simply could not make it worth the cost. Kairen did his best to fix the image of the sacrificed man in his memory. He owed a lot to that near stranger, and it wouldn¡¯t do to forget him. The boy made a mental note to head over to the slave pens later, in hopes of learning the man¡¯s name through overheard conversation.


    Kairen truly did owe a lot to him. What had happened today had given Kairen key pieces of information that he needed to start piecing together a better picture of how Oases function. Despite his initial hopes, Kairen no longer believed that ghosts were responsible for running the other Oases. That wasn¡¯t to say that ghosts couldn¡¯t be present there, and given how many people lived in or near an Oasis it wouldn¡¯t surprise Kairen if there were quite a few ghosts left wandering around the cities they had inhabited during their time amongst the living. What Kairen now knew was that the system didn¡¯t need someone like him to function. The randomizer function by itself would ensure that a ghostless Oasis would experience continuous growth, and while the upgrades chosen there might not be as efficient as if someone with intelligence was hand picking each one in order, that mattered little when enough time would balance all things out.


    The other piece of the puzzle was the ability for humans to select a purpose for the Oasis. Not only did it fix the overly broad approach of the simple randomizer, but it also introduced new fourth tier upgrades. No matter what Kairen had tried he had been unable to have the system show him any fourth-tier upgrades, or even something like the specializations that Zar and Mr. Mage had browsed through. Now that he had a better idea of what was hidden the young boy was hopeful of getting the system to show him more of it, but the fact that it was hidden at all was significant. Even if he could view or interact with them, it was obvious that specialization choice was meant to be handled by a regular person., someone using magic to direct and control the Oasis, as opposed to Kairen, who had somehow inserted himself into the middle of the process in what was looking more and more like a cosmic fluke. In a way, the unlikeliness of his current situation relieved Kairen. While it meant that it was unlikely there was anyone else like him out there in the Sands, it also meant that Mr. Mage wasn¡¯t expecting him, or anything like him. The ritualist had been content to enact his magic, giving control of the Oasis to Zar, before heading on his way, without ever considering the possibility or implications of a ghost meddling with that control.


    Sure, Kairen had written messages in the sand, so Zar knew there was some sort of spirit present but writing omens in the sand was hardly indicative of control over the Oasis, no matter how coincidental some of the upgrades might have been. It was a sensible justification that Kairen intended to take full advantage of, hindering the slavers as much as possible without them ever having any hint as to his existence. The main thing he had to account for was the ¡®control¡¯ that Zar now expected to have over the Oasis.


    The primary issue that Kairen foresaw was with his rats. They had not been present for the ritual, and didn¡¯t understand the power that Mr. Mage represented, or the even more subtle power of wealth that was the ritualists master and Zar¡¯s backer. Alpha and his kin were only interested in inconveniencing Zar and his minions, and fully utilized the Blessings Kairen had given them in pursuit of their goal. Trying to convince the rats to back down or switch things up was going to be difficult.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    It was also necessary. One of the main promises that Mr. Mage had made to Zar was that the ritual would make the rats normal rats again, without any of the benefits that Kairen¡¯s Blessings conferred. While it was tempting to consider simply not changing anything and leaving the spooky ritualist to deal with the fallout of not being correct, Kairen knew that doing so was asking for trouble. The ritual Mr. Mage had created had been quickly designed and roughly implemented, and had still pushed Kairen to his limits in his attempt to work around it. Giving the ritualist another chance to correct things once he knew that Kairen was working against him was a recipe for disaster, or at least an exorcism.


    Cautiously, Kairen felt out those connections that the sightless sage had mentioned. When he thought of the rats or the various humans present in the Oasis he could recall his impression of them all, but it was deeper than just his memories and recollections. There was an extra dimensionality that was both utterly alien and completely natural, and Kairen shifted his focus towards parsing it out into something that made sense to his human mind.


    The key relationship that helped Kairen begin to put that extra sense into perspective was his hatred of Zar. None of Kairen¡¯s Blessings were active on the man, and it was easy to see why. The thought of doing anything to directly benefit the slaver was met with an instinctive swell of fury, one that drowned out even idle thoughts on the matter and left no room for argument. Zar was an enemy, no matter what position he claimed to have.


    Things got trickier after that. Given his general hate for slavers and murderers, Kairen had been surprised to discover that most of Zar¡¯s minions were benefitting to some degree from his Blessings. Even though Kairen himself didn¡¯t like those men, it seemed that was only part of the equation. The rats didn¡¯t like the humans either, but the rats couldn¡¯t simply overwhelm the humans and drive them out. The slavers were here to stay, and their own view of themselves as residents of the Oasis of Zaros weighed against Kairen¡¯s desire to evict them. Much like an emotion, that bond was something he could work to fuel or diminish, but doing so took time and effort. Given the fact that most of the slavers weren¡¯t fully utilizing those Blessings, Kairen turned his attention towards his rats as he tried to figure out a good solution for his various problems.


    Those same bonds were present, both towards the rats as a whole, but Kairen could feel stronger bonds when thinking of certain rats. The named rats were simply more, whatever connection they had to Kairen giving them a stronger Blessing. They could learn more, work harder, and fight better than the other rats, and Kairen could feel those differences through their connection. Each Blessing felt like a new emotion directed towards the recipient, feelings that didn¡¯t have names and didn¡¯t strike the same chords that normal emotions did, but were somehow felt the same way. Miner and Scarlett stood out in Kairen¡¯s mind as well, tinged with a strong feeling that Kairen was able to associate with his Blessing of Skill. The other Blessings were harder to tease apart, but Kairen did his best to try and understand all seven of the Blessings he was providing.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Kairen to realize that while the rats benefitted from his blessings, they didn¡¯t have the same impetus tying them to the Oasis that the humans did. Kairen couldn¡¯t point to any single cause as the answer. Perhaps the ritual had worked to some degree, and Zar¡¯s view of the rats as invaders was now in effect, and just happened to be counteracted by Kairen¡¯s affection for the small mammals. Perhaps it was simply that the rats weren¡¯t human, with the associated range of emotions and attachments. If the strength of the bond was based on the depth of the connection, how would that apply to a species that might not regularly experience such abstract concepts? While it was distasteful, Kairen felt that he could easily remove the blessing from some or all of the rats. Trying it on Epsilon who was on the surface at the time led to an immediate reaction as the rat turned to look at Kairen in shock, and the ghost quickly restored the Blessings, before apologizing.


    ¡°Sorry, Epsilon. I¡¯m trying to figure some things out.¡±


    The rat squeaked affirmatively before scampering on its way, leaving Kairen to continue his thinking. It would take some explaining, but he figured he could talk with Alpha and try and get the smarter rats to understand what was happening. For the rest, Kairen kept coming back to pulling his blessings away. Doing so felt like a betrayal, but letting Zar and Mr. Mage eventually take full control of the Oasis was also a betrayal, if a slower one.


    What finally convinced Kairen to go ahead with his idea of pretending to be controlled was the fact that the rats weren¡¯t chained to the Oasis as he was. They definitely had easier access to resources here than they would out in the Sands, but other than that there was nothing stopping them from simply heading off and starting a new life elsewhere, much like Alpha had done before the Oasis was founded. From that perspective, removing his Blessings was not lining his rats up to be slaughtered but simply another way of kicking them out of the nest, of encouraging them to head elsewhere and make a life for themselves. It wasn¡¯t like they would benefit from the Blessings after they left the Oasis anyways.


    It would take time to experiment with controlling the Blessings and to get Alpha and the other rats to understand his plan, but Kairen felt good about his odds of making it succeed. It would give him the time he needed to figure out the next stages of his growth where he could hopefully find something to turn the tides.


    Not that doing so would be easy. Zar would be watching for specific upgrades, and Kairen would have to oblige him occasionally, he could probably sneak in a few unrelated choices every now and again, but if the Oasis didn¡¯t grow to become more like the plantation that Zar wanted then Kairen knew there would be problems. Fortunately, while Kairen hated the idea of being forced down a specific path of growth he didn¡¯t have any problem with grabbing the upgrades in question. He just wished he could do so only because he wanted to, and not because of the threat looming over him.

 Chapter 50: Zofie

    She hated it here.


    Not only did Zofie hate Zaros itself, but she hated everything that was connected to it. She hated that it wasn¡¯t Savar. She hated the painful trip across the desert to get to Zaros. She hated the rats that were the primary pest, and could occasionally be found scuttling through the night or sneaking through a storeroom. She hated the food, she hated the people, and most of all, she hated the fact that she would never get to go home.


    She hated that her father tried to frame it as a positive. ¡®A place that has a promising future. By establishing a place for yourself and our family before Zaros grows in power you will find that our power grows with it.¡¯ She wasn¡¯t stupid. Zofie was eight, and had spied on enough conversations about her to know what was really happening. Ever since she had slapped that other girl her father had been unhappy with her. Her exile to Zaros was simply the latest punishment in a line of indignities that included never getting desserts and having her favorite slave sold away.


    What Zofie didn¡¯t understand was why she was being punished. It had been a fairly light slap, all things considered, only meant to get the other girl to shut up as opposed to actually hurting her. Zofie had done far worse to the slave kids when they cheated at games and no one had ever punished her for it. It only made sense. The strong could do what they wanted to those lesser than them. All she had done was demonstrate this to the chatterbox who would just not stop talking. No one had said anything to her at the time, but she could remember things well enough to realize that was the day when things had changed for her.


    Not that Zofie¡¯s father told her anything. She figured it was just his own way of making sure she learned her lesson, just as he never told his slaves why he was punishing them. If he told them they¡¯d only stop doing that one thing wrong, but by not telling them anything they¡¯d be more careful not to mess up at all in the future. Zofie wasn¡¯t a stupid slave and had already figured out what she had done wrong, which is why the prolonged punishment hurt so much. She already knew not to slap the other girl if she saw her again, and if she came across any other annoying kids she¡¯d just get one of the servants to make them be quiet. All she had to do now was wait until Father realized that Zofie had learned her lesson and let her go back home, where she had a big bed with silk sheets and a servant would fan her if it got too hot.


    Zaros was cool enough that she didn¡¯t need the servant, but his absence still rankled at her. And her bed was made out of cotton, even if it was still large and soft enough to roll around on comfortably. But her life consisted of a thousand small reminders that she was not in Savar, in her comfy home, and so she hated it all.


    What Zofie hated most depended on the moment, as it was almost always whatever inconvenience that happened to be immediately affecting her. Right now, that was breakfast.


    ¡°I want bacon!¡± She pouted at the cook. If she was back at home she could have ordered him to give her what she wanted, but this was a different cook from the one back home. He only listened to the majordomo, a long-time retainer of her father who was responsible for running the household here at Zaros until she had enough maturity and education to take over and do so for herself. Once that happened, she promised silently, there would be meat at every meal.


    Unfortunately for her plans of future decadence, the majordomo was standing right behind her, and had overheard her complaint. ¡°Unfortunately, we only have the two pigs we brought with us from Savar, and we have better uses for them than to cut them up for your meals. The porridge is quite tasty and filling and will help you stay focused during school.¡± The majordomo explained patiently, with the tone of a man who could only apply words to the situation.


    Zofie thought about it for a moment, before sullenly digging her spoon in. She hated breakfast, but it was better than school. Why did she have to go and learn from the same person as all the other kids here? Her Father had given her a personal tutor back in Savar, but now Jon was busy teaching her little brother instead of coming with her to teach her lessons. Not that she liked sitting and listening to someone try and educate her. It was simply that doing so was ten times worse once other children became involved. Slowly Zofie chewed on her porridge as she thought about her impending fate. She brightened a little once she tasted the spices that had been mixed in, slowing down and enjoying the meal as she tried to delay the inevitable.


    All too soon her bowl was empty, and the young girl was being escorted to the schoolhouse that had been established. The majordomo walked alongside her, his gaze moving from one mercenary to the next whenever they came too close, or their gaze lingered longer than was proper. Zofie hardly noticed, wrapped up in her misery as she was.


    ¡°I hate school.¡± Zofie muttered, just loud enough for the majordomo to hear but soft enough that no one else could. Complaining to people who didn¡¯t belong to her was wrong. The majordomo nodded his head in sympathy and gave Zofie a small pat on her shoulder.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°The sooner you master the lessons the teacher has for you, the sooner you can spend your time on other matters.¡± He reassured her, before steering her inside the schoolhouse and escorting her to her assigned chair. The teacher was already busy working with some of the younger students and Zofie felt a small stab of jealousy that she would have to wait until he was finished to get started on her lesson for the day. It wasn¡¯t right that the other students got as much of the teacher¡¯s time as they did, especially when she needed it more. With nothing better to do, Zofie began to write out the words she had been taught last time, just to show the teacher that she was ready to move on to something new.


    ¡°Well done!¡± The teacher said once he was finished with his other students and had made his way over. ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t push too hard on your initial strokes, however. It doesn¡¯t matter when you are just practicing on a clay tablet, but when using ink it tends to lead to blots or stains that will force you to start over. For now, work on the words in the middle of the front wall, and pay attention to how much force you use for each letter. I¡¯ll go over the words and their meanings in just a bit.¡±


    Zofie sighed as the teacher moved on to the next student and began to repetitively copy the words he had written up front, letting her mind wander as her hands worked through the familiar mechanical task. While half the words were new to her, the other half she was able to sound out and recognize. With multiple kids in multiple age groups the teacher only spent so much time on any one subject, and tried to condense his lessons by combining them whenever possible. Four of the words up on the board today were Luxor, Ashwan, Sabbuk, and Savar, all cities that Zofie had heard about before. She guessed that today the teacher would also include a basic geography lesson for the kids too stupid to realize they had lived somewhere else before moving here. Well and Farmland might be talking about the concepts themselves, but Zofie thought it was more likely that they were particularly dull examples of nearby villages formed by people who didn¡¯t matter.


    She liked it when the teacher focused on history. As a retired adventurer who had turned to education once his funds had run out, their teacher had all sorts of interesting stories about how things used to be. He¡¯d fought in most of the skirmishes between cities at one point or another, and was able to bring them to life in a way that Zofie¡¯s tutor had never managed to do. Zofie¡¯s only complaint about his storytelling ability was that the teacher kept censoring himself, switching what word he was going to use halfway through once he remembered who his audience was. The girl was curious as to what words were so bad that they shouldn¡¯t be mentioned in front of kids, or at least kids with parents that were giving the teacher money. Some of them she could guess at from the first letter, but others she had never heard of before.


    Zofie was distracted from her mental rant by a flicker of movement overhead. Her young eyes easily spotted the culprit, a small rat that had climbed up onto a roof beam and was using it to move from one side of the building to the other. Out of everything she hated about Zaros, she hated the rats the least, mostly because they never did anything to her. Sure, she heard stories about them eating all the food in sight and spoiling backs of grain that then had to be burned instead of eaten, but none of that was her problem. There were enough people present in her estate to scare away most rats, and the servants put out enough traps to take care of the rest. There were still problems, of course. Zofie knew that the cook had had to remake a meal more than once, and the majordomo had beaten a few of the cleaning slaves when rat poop had been found in his room, but that was their problem, not hers, and a quiet part of her enjoyed the irritations that everyone else experienced, enjoying the miserable company it provided.


    It was hard to believe, but the rats had apparently been a much larger issue for Zaros before Zofie had arrived. Back then they had apparently grown three times as large as regular rats, and bigger ones were seen every day. They could breathe underwater and could somehow turn invisible and sneak through holes no larger than a finger. It had taken a new ritual put together by Lord Zar and a mysterious ritualist to stop the rats from becoming any worse and making them normal pests once again.


    Zofie liked that story. She couldn¡¯t do any magic herself, but one of the slaves back in Savar had a bit of magic that he used to make their house there smell good. Zofie had made sure her room smelled like something different every single day, and wondered what else the ritual magic could do. The only other thing she had managed to learn about it was that it had cost a slave to make it work, but that sounded like a fair trade to Zofie. A slave for a whole Oasis was a great deal, and if the young girl knew how she would trade all three of the slaves she had just to go back to Savar. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t look like that was actually possible, so the girl just sighed, focusing on the teacher just long enough to confirm that he wasn¡¯t covering anything new before drifting back into her thoughts.


    Lessons would only last for a few more hours, and then Zofie would be free to explor Zaros and interact with her peers. There was only so much of either activity that she could tolerate, but there wasn''t much else to do except shop at the rare merchant who ventured out to Zaros to sell their goods at a marked up price. She knew how much a stick of honey should sell for, and those thieves had tried to make her pay twice as much as she needed to! It had made for a nice snack though. Mostly the girl just wished for something interesting to happen, like another group of slaves or a caravan from a city she hadn''t heard of before. Anything to make her life less boring.


    She really hated Zaros.

 Chapter 51: Kairen

    ¡°Ell. Oh. En. Gee. Ee. Arr.¡± Kairen painstakingly spelled out the last word of the description, checking every now and again against the handy chart that Zograt the teacher had set up. Then he went back and began to sound it out, almost as slowly.


    ¡°Luh. Lon. Long. Longer! The boy said proudly Not only did he successfully read the word, but it was a word that he already knew! It was always a pain when he couldn¡¯t recognize a word. Sometimes it was because he had never heard of it before, other times it was because it wasn¡¯t spelled anything like he thought it should be. If he ever met the person who designed writing Kairen would have some words to say to them. ''Thank you'' would be in there somewhere, even if the rest would be complaints about everything else.


    Learning to read hadn¡¯t been an easy process for Kairen. Most of the students that Zograt was working with had arrived in Zaros with some level of education already completed, and while Kairen was certainly more dedicated than any of the other students, he was both starting from behind and unable to actually interact with the teacher. Or the materials, for that matter, there were plenty of times that the boy wished he could simply write letters on a clay tablet like all the other kids, instead of having to memorize them by sight alone. He sometimes worked with the named rats to carve random letters in an abandoned alley, but finding safe moments to do so was difficult, and denied Kairen the ability to truly practice that he desired. Despite those setbacks, Kairen persevered, and thanks to his older mind and single-minded focus it didn¡¯t take long before the boy began to see results. Reading was in some ways new, but in so many other ways familiar. He wasn¡¯t learning new words; he was simply finding new ways to understand them.


    Convincing the system to switch back to text took a bit of finagling, but soon Kairen was once again staring at a wall of letters. This time though, he could begin the work of breaking that incomprehensible wall down into something he could understand and use to further his plans. There were roadblocks, but nothing insurmountable. The system was designed to be understood, and was more than willing to work with Kairen in order to make that happen. Whenever Kairen came across a word he couldn¡¯t figure out, all it took was a simple request before that word shimmered and was replaced, sometimes with another word, other times with a whole phrase. Only once did Kairen have to ask for additional clarification, and even then that was early on in his lessons when he was still figuring out that combinations of letters could make sounds that they shouldn¡¯t.


    Out of curiosity, Kairen tried asking for the original words to be put back, the descriptions that had been replaced with simpler versions when he didn''t recognize the words. It didn''t take too long before the boy quickly changed his mind. There were a lot more words he didn¡¯t know, but the descriptions were shorter overall, and the ghost figured the unknown words were simply complex ways to say the same things that the system used lots of words for when it tried to make it easier to read. Extirpate was a silly word anyways, when ¡®destroy¡¯ already existed. Kairen had the feeling most of the other descriptions were equally useless, telling him almost the same things he had already puzzled out from the pictures or had confirmed from the basic descriptions.


    The words had come in handy for the few picture explanations he hadn¡¯t quite understood. It turned out the shrinking monster upgrade didn¡¯t actually make the monsters smaller, but weakened them instead, something that felt obvious in hindsight. Kairen wished it had just shown a monster fighting and being less physical when doing so, but even then the boy couldn¡¯t quite come up with a sequence to capture the all-encompassing reduction in capability that the upgrade provided. It made them weaker, but also slower to react, slower to think, and less durable, while their magic would be less potent. It would only be a small reduction across the board, but it was guaranteed to affect every monster that might wander in.


    The other upgrades that Kairen was interested in learning more about were the sun protection upgrade and the mysterious third tier pool upgrade that was still locked behind the relatively useless pool depth upgrade. While the sun protection one only used an image of the sun being blocked, the effect was a general environmental control system, helping reduce uncomfortable extremes of weather and temperature to something more tolerable. It wouldn¡¯t do much against the sheer might of the sandstorms that occasionally came and reshaped the desert, but all other meteorological hazards could be mitigated. As for the locked pool upgrade, it increased the amount of magic present in the water, which would help the pool clean itself faster when dirt or debris was dumped in, as the picture had tried to suggest. It was a more mundane effect than Kairen had been imagining, but the fourth-tier upgrades and their descriptions helped provide the needed context.


    The first three tiers were foundational. Each tree built on the lower levels, which was why the second-tier upgrades needed to be purchased before the third-tier upgrades could be bought. Each purchase, each blessing of magic that was woven into the structure of the Oasis helped form the foundation for the next upgrade. As Kairen grew the Oasis over time, the Oasis became capable of handling stronger and stronger enchantments in turn, the limits of which were indicated by Kairen¡¯s upgrade point capacity, or Ambient Meaning as it was actually called.


    But while the lower tiers were basic enough that they could build upon each other interchangeably, the fourth-tier upgrades were different. It wasn¡¯t enough to simply have a large enough pool of Meaning to support the upgrade in question, Kairen also needed to have specific lower tier upgrades at a high level of strength. Those upgrades were the framework that future upgrades would build upon, pulling bits and pieces of capability and rolling them all up together into a unified package that could do so much more because it didn¡¯t have to be self-sufficient magically.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Kairen had gained access to three new upgrades when Zar had made his selection on that other screen. Having an intended purpose as a plantation had opened up a single fourth tier upgrade in each tree, although that word wasn¡¯t as accurate since the requirements needed to purchase each upgrade were all over the place, connecting the previously discrete structures. Mr. Mage had mentioned all these effects when describing the selection available, but it was still somewhat strange seeing them casually displayed in front of him. Slowly the boy read out his new options.


    ¡°Defensive Exits. A solid barrier covers the Oasis, stopping people from entering or exiting except through certain areas.¡±


    ¡°Plantation Fields. Expands the area of the Oasis and draws water from the pool to water the new farmland. Prevents pests from destroying growing crops.¡±


    ¡°Loyalty Blessing. Makes slaves more loyal to people in positions of authority over them.¡±


    Having an example of a fourth-tier upgrade to work with also helped Kairen realize why he had been unable to bring up a list like he had wanted to. It simply wasn¡¯t feasible, given how many possible upgrades were out there. In a way, the upgrade tree was similar to writing. The lower tiers were comparable to letters. There were a small number of them, and each one did something specific. But once you had enough letters or basic upgradeable enchantments you could begin to combine them in almost endless ways There wasn¡¯t a list of a dozen or even a hundred blessings that Kairen could ask for and work towards. The upgrades were instead created, either on the spot or at some previous point in time where all the calculations were done to figure out what was necessary to support the desired enchantment.


    Kairen was ecstatic. It was only a theory, but it made sense to the point where he believed it to be mostly true. The system couldn¡¯t provide a list of all available upgrades because there wasn¡¯t such a list in the first place. Asking for upgrades that Kairen met the prerequisites for might work, or it might not. Kairen could already see how a dozen similar upgrades might all have the same basic requirements, but there was no reason to limit it there. An apple tree farm would want a slightly different blessing from an orange tree farm which would want a slightly different blessing from a fig tree farm and so on. On the one hand, it meant that Kairen couldn¡¯t simply pick the best option out of what was offered to him. On the other hand, it meant that with enough work the Oasis system might be able to build a piece of magic to do anything that Kairen wanted. From evicting the slavers and other evil people, to giving Kairen a tangible avatar he could use to interact with the world, the only limitation was Kairen¡¯s imagination and his willingness to build up the foundation necessary to support what would probably be immensely complex pieces of magic.


    Of course, all of that required Kairen to figure out how to actually get the system to create those upgrades for him. Knowing it was possible in theory was one thing, but working through his various limitations to turn it into reality was another. Despite his eager first attempts Kairen wasn¡¯t able to ask for any single fourth tier upgrade to appear, even when he tried to get something similar to the three he already had, or when he tried to figure out what some of the fourth-tier upgrades for the other specializations would be. A part of Kairen was worried that the specialization had completely locked all other upgrades away, but he didn¡¯t think that was very likely. There were simply too many ways that a plantation could develop into something more, and Kairen wouldn¡¯t be surprised if whatever ritual Mr. Mage had built poked at controls that allowed the focus of the Oasis to be switched to something else. What was more likely was that Kairen simply didn¡¯t have access to whatever part of the system allowed for new fourth tier upgrades to be designated. If Kairen was correct, he had somehow taken control of what was usually an automated process. If the system could simply randomly begin investing upgrade points or ambient Meaning into any advanced specialization it met the requisites for it wouldn¡¯t stay specialized for long. Despite Kairen¡¯s ability to manipulate and work with the system to do things that other Oases couldn¡¯t do, there were still limits. The boy wouldn¡¯t be surprised to find out that unlocking fourth tier upgrades was simply beyond him.


    Fortunately for Kairen, he wasn¡¯t working alone. The desert rats had been decimated after Kairen had pulled back his blessings, but none of Alpha or his family had blamed Kairen for it. In many ways the sudden culling had been a benefit for the rats, reducing the strain their population was putting on their limited supply of resources. More useful to Kairen was that it had shifted the distribution of the remaining rats to heavily favor those who could see him, to the point where Kairen was beginning to think of them as a different subspecies of rat entirely, instead of just a few gifted ones in a larger colony of normal rats. Medium Rats was the name Kairen had finally settled on, both to describe their relatively normal size but also their ability to interact with him and other parts of the spirit world. The Medium rats were loyal, intelligent, and accepting of the difficulties of their life in a way that Kairen found hard to wrap his head around. He had expected most of the smarter rats to hate him once he explained what he had to do, but they had simply taken it in stride, not changing a single whisker in how they interacted with the lonely ghost. That part of their mindset was completely alien to Kairen, but he was grateful for it nonetheless.


    Kairen was hopeful that the Medium rats would eventually reach the point where they could begin to interact with the system, more than just to receive the few blessings he still shared with the small creatures. It would have been nice if their presence had managed to deny Zar or Mr. Mage total control of the Oasis, but it seemed like the rats simply didn¡¯t think in such terms. Getting them to the point where they could somehow influence the direction the Oasis was heading wasn¡¯t impossible, but would take longer to explain and guide the rats towards than it would for humans to understand the concept and do the same.


    Fortunately for Kairen, the slavers had recently introduced a new group of humans to the Oasis, and the Medium rats had begun to get over their natural fear of humans as predators.


    A lone rat scurried through the dirt, dragging a piece of sausage behind him. Pulling it through a carefully prepared hole the rodent dropped its present, before going to work, quickly and efficiently writing out a simple message. The letters were crude, but Kairen had practiced them enough times in a similar manner for them to be easily legible. It was a simple introduction, a small peace offering, but from small sparks mighty fires could grow. Kairen had great hopes for this single word, written in the dirt.


    ¡°Hello.¡±

 Chapter 52: Kairen

    Kairen¡¯s little message went unnoticed at first. Zar and his slavemaster had done their best to beat out every spark of curiosity, every drop of motivation that they could from the people they captured. When the slaves weren¡¯t being worked to the bone on some menial task, most of them simply sat and stared blindly while they waited for the time to pass, or talked quietly with each to her, voices kept low to avoid attracting the unwanted attention of their captors.


    Still, despite that, someone eventually did spot the word written on the ground. A teenage girl with nothing to add to the current conversation was instead staring around the courtyard they were being held in. By itself, Kairen¡¯s message could have easily been dismissed. The ghost was watching carefully and noticed that the girl didn¡¯t seem to comprehend what he had written. Even if she had, it would have been far too easy for her to simply write it off as the scribblings of another slave, although why they would want to introduce themselves to people they had lived with before this was beyond Kairen. Fortunately, Kairen had left more than just a message behind.


    It had taken a fair amount of convincing, but Alpha himself was standing just above the message. Kairen didn¡¯t know what exactly had convinced the rat to go along with this plan of his. Perhaps the rat had simply grown more accustomed to humans after living all these months in Zaros, battling with them daily for food and shelter. Perhaps his relationship with Kairen had grown over that same period of time, as Kairen did as much as possible to help the rats stay alive even without the advantages provided by his Blessings. Perhaps it was simply age. Kairen didn¡¯t know how old Alpha had been before he had arrived at the Oasis, but the medium rat was beginning to display the ravages of time. Grey hairs were replacing the sandy brown fur Alpha had originally had, and every day the rat moved slightly slower as it scurried around Zaros. Kairen hoped that his Blessings of Endurance and Vitality would extend the natural lifespan of his companion and follower, but still knew that their time together would eventually run out. Perhaps Alpha was also aware of this fact and was more accepting of tasks that brushed against his mortality.


    Whatever the case, the rat sitting patiently next to the word gave the girl pause. She glanced at the other slaves who were still awake but decided against interrupting their conversation over what might just be a curious rodent. Slowly she scooted away from the group, keeping her eyes fixed on Alpha the whole time. Closer and closer she got, but Alpha remained calm, Kairen providing a constant stream of encouragement to help keep the rat¡¯s confidence up.


    ¡°Hello there.¡± The girl said softly, reaching out a hand to pet Alpha. Not sensing any malicious intent the rat accepted, acknowledging the affection in a moment that struck Kairen with its familiarity. Watching the girl he saw the same half-smile he once had, caused by something positive happening in the midst of a life torn apart. Eventually, she paused in her ministrations and Alpha quickly ran a circle around Kairen¡¯s message before he returned to his original spot, where he squeaked twice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The teen apologized softly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know how to read. Alchemist Alya does, but she¡¯s asleep right now. The village head did, but I haven¡¯t seen him for a few days and I don¡¯t know what happened to him.¡± Her voice broke a bit on that last admission, the nervous fear of the unknown future leaking through for a moment before she recomposed herself.


    ¡°Squeak once.¡± Kairen softly instructed Alpha. This girl wasn¡¯t able to hear him, but he still kept his voice down out of respect for the current atmosphere. Alpha obediently did so, even if Kairen could pick up the small cues of confusion the rat displayed when he didn¡¯t fully understand what Kairen intended or what he was working towards. Despite Alpha¡¯s intelligence and enhanced memory, the rat hadn¡¯t been able to learn to understand human speech. All the medium rats could recognize common words that impacted them such as ¡®rat¡¯, ¡®get it¡¯, or ¡®food¡¯, but they lacked the context needed to parse speech as a whole. When Kairen spoke to them they didn¡¯t hear his commands as actual words but simply the intent he wanted to convey. He was grateful for that fact, as it allowed him to communicate to a degree that would otherwise have been impossible, but it did lead to some unusual situations.


    ¡°You can understand me?¡± The unwitting audience asked Alpha. Once again a single squeak was her answer, accompanied by other signs of affirmation such as the rat making eye contact and quickly bumping against her hand that was resting on the ground. Alpha couldn¡¯t actually understand her, but that detail didn¡¯t matter when Kairen was standing nearby and could do the understanding for the obedient rat.


    The girl began to stroke Alpha once again, more gently now that she was aware he wasn¡¯t just a regular rat. ¡°I¡¯ve never met a rat who could understand speech before!¡± She murmured happily, her current worries momentarily forgotten in the face of something new. ¡°I¡±m Melody, by the way. Do you have a name?¡±


    ¡°Squeak!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a yes, right? Or is it your name? I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t speak rat, you see.¡±


    ¡°Squeak! Squeak squeak!¡±


    It was tricky trying to answer Melody¡¯s questions using only the simple yes and no system that Kairen had devised, and trying to actively guide the conversation in the direction he wanted was even more difficult. Under his direction Alpha once more began to dig, quickly scratching out a capital A on the ground. It served as both an answer to her question and another prompt to go find someone who could read, and who could hopefully understand the complex idea Kairen wanted to get across.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s your name? Or close enough anyways?¡± Melody quickly corrected herself after a noncommittal response. Her eyes flicked over to the other slaves before turning back towards Alpha and the invisible boy standing behind him. ¡°I still can¡¯t read, but I can try and get someone who does over here.¡± She waited a bit for an answer, only to be surprised ¡°Yes, no? You want me to get someone, but not yet?¡±


    Kairen found himself surprised at his decision. Getting someone who could read involved had always been the plan, but he found that he wasn¡¯t quite ready to give up this strange connection just yet. The Nomads had been aware of his existence, but had treated him as a spirit or a minor deity, something to be venerated and communicated with, but that was alien enough to make social distance a necessity. Melody didn¡¯t know he was here, didn¡¯t have to weigh her responses against his ability to alter her surroundings. Even if she thought she was communicating with Alpha it was the closest Kairen had come to human interaction in a long time, and he wasn¡¯t willing to give it up quite yet, to reveal himself and his situation and what it could mean for the slaves. He didn¡¯t want to pick up the role of Kairen, the controller of the Oasis, when he could steal a few more moments as just another sentient inhabitant of the Oasis spending time with a friendly stranger.


    Melody didn¡¯t seem to mind it either. She adjusted her position to something more comfortable, splaying her bruised legs out in front of her. Then she began to talk, sharing the thoughts that troubled her mind with the willing audience of two. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. I know life in the Sands is hard, that it isn¡¯t easy to make a living here. But why do people have to be so cruel? I was still a kid when we hired them as adventurers to deal with a rock elemental that was making a nuisance of itself. I thought Zar was so handsome at the time, this dashing hero with good looks who could cut through a solid boulder with his magic axe like it was nothing. I thought he was a good person, taking on quests to help out poor villages like ours when no one else would. And then he shows up a few weeks ago, only this time it¡¯s to burn down everything we have, everything he saved.¡±


    Through Alpha, Kairen offered what comfort he could, knowing all too well the tale Melody was sharing. It wasn¡¯t just his personal experience either. Almost monthly Zar went out on a raid for new slaves, burning through his list of potential targets as he worked to make a name for Zaros. Most of those slaves were sold onwards, either bought by individuals with a ¡®discerning¡¯ eye or sold in bulk by traders of flesh who would handle the dirty business of moving everyone to another city. Some remained, the old and otherwise unwanted, fated to work hard lives while the rich and indifferent decided to spend their money elsewhere.


    Melody had stopped talking at some point, her words having turned to quiet sobbing tears as she simply let it all out. Kairen could see Alpha turning to look at him ever so often, the rat unsure how to handle this strange situation that it found itself in, but Kairen simply encouraged Alpha to remain calm. Soon enough the girl had exhausted herself, and with a final sniffle, she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her crude dress.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± She said simply, unable to find the words to truly say how grateful she was. ¡°I¡¯ll go get Miss Alya now.¡± Alpha squeaked in assent before waiting patiently while Melody scuffled over to the rest of the slaves. Carefully grabbing at a thin lady¡¯s dress to draw her attention, Melody began to whisper, trying not to draw the attention of the guards even as more and more curious slaves stopped their own idle activities to spy on the tearswept girl. With a wave of her hand, Alchemist Alya encouraged them all to mind their own business, before casually following Melody back over to the deserted corner where Kairen and Alpha were waiting.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Alya said after spotting the message and letter. ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve seen something like this before. You¡¯ve got something to say to me?¡± She nodded after getting a single squeak. ¡°Bad news?¡±


    ¡°Squeak squeak!¡±


    ¡°Not bad, or not news?¡± Was the quick follow-up. Kairen was impressed at the speed that the alchemist processed the new situation. No hesitation, no moment of suspicion, simply a willingness to take it all in and go forwards with it, quickly figuring out the communication system Kairen had implemented. It only took a few more exchanges before the two women were waiting patiently, Alya slowly reading the developing message out to Melody as Kairen directed Alpha to scratch out one character after another.


    ¡°I can help. You can help.¡± Not the wordiest explanation I¡¯ve ever heard of, but it¡¯s understandable enough. Let¡¯s start with that first part. How can you help us?¡± Alya looked at Alpha critically, measuring up his size and age and finding it wanting compared to her unexplained standards. Alpha wasn¡¯t the one making the deal, however. Kairen quickly phased through the wall, doing his best to ignore the phantom sensation that told him it shouldn¡¯t be possible, before signalling to the group of rats that was waiting patiently outside, hidden from sight by dark shadows and a new moon. At his cue the group sprang into action, making their way into the holding area in an orderly fashion.


    Hopping inside Kairen took great pleasure in the expressions of shock that had taken over Melody and Alya¡¯s faces. Whatever they had been thinking of, they surely hadn¡¯t expected a procession of rats, carrying pieces of food in their bulging cheek pouches, which they carefully deposited onto a growing pile before vanishing out into the night. Kairen knew the amount of food he was providing was barely more than a snack for so many slaves, but it held the promise of potential. Seeing the dried fruits and meats after so long on gruel brought the glimmer of tears to Melody¡¯s eyes, but Alya was more composed, even as she began scooping up the food using her dress as a makeshift pouch.


    ¡°Thank you. This will go a long way towards convincing others to help you. Now what exactly can we help you with?¡±


    Slowly, in halting explanations and half-finished sentences, Kairen explained. How he had died. His new state of existence. The Oasis and its upgrades. The ritual and the future direction of growth. Halfway through Alya had him pause while she retrieved a few of her fellow slaves, but otherwise it was an attentive audience, one that didn¡¯t interrupt or doubt what Kairen was telling them. He supposed having an intelligent rat convey his story helped sell it, but mostly Kairen thought that the slaves were willing to humor him simply because they had no other options. Once he had finished, there was a moment of silence as everyone absorbed the information, before Alya once more took control of the conversation.


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting situation to be in, no doubt. Now what exactly do you need us to do?¡±


    Kairen told her, and they got to work.

 Chapter 53: Kairen

    Having living people working with him was a good first step for Kairen. Even if they weren¡¯t in any position to do things for him, just the mental relief of not feeling completely isolated was a blessing for the lonely ghost. It took some of the mental strain he had been feeling away and allowed him to focus on the next part of his strategy; empowering his companions.


    While the Blessings Kairen could provide were significant, they didn¡¯t operate in a vacuum. No matter how powerful his fertility blessing became, no male was ever going to get pregnant, and his second-tier blessings all enhanced the existing capabilities of the person receiving them. The endurance Blessing was likely the only reason so many slaves survived the grueling work they were assigned given thor basic diet of porridge and water, but a proper diet would do wonders for giving the slaves the extra energy they needed to start taking care of any tasks Kairen might have for them. The medium rats showed their worth in this regard. Constant skirmishes against the slavers had honed their capabilities to a fine edge and empowered by the blessings fully for the first time in a while it was child¡¯s play for the rats to steal enough food to feed themselves and provide some extra nutrition for the slaves.


    Kairen knew that increasing the rats'' activity was risky, but he felt it was worth the benefits. The rats had learned the art of subtlety and under Kairen¡¯s direct attention were able to steal food in such a way that the guards were none the wiser, with every container looking much like it had before the heist took place. Kairen still worried that some small detail would tip off Zar and encourage him to bring in Mr. Mage once more. The ritualists hadn¡¯t been seen since that fateful day he murdered a slave and assigned a growth pattern to Kairen, and Kairen was quite eager to keep it that way. It was a hassle putting as many points towards the growth upgrades instead of the upgrades Kairen prioritized, but it meant that Zar hadn''t had any reason to consult with the expert for a solution.


    Food wasn¡¯t the only thing Kairen had his rats stealing. While a set of actual keys would be sure to make everyone aware that something was amiss, there was more than enough new construction going up all the time for Gamma to easily slip in and carry away a handheld carving kit and some small pieces of softer rock. Carving their own keys wouldn¡¯t be a quick process, but it was something the blacksmith could work on while he rested, when he wasn¡¯t chained to his forge. The tools and material might be different, but the large man was confident in his ability to chip out something workable. Papyrus was another item Kairen raided heavily. The burgeoning administration used enough of the material tracking things that a few spare scraps weren¡¯t even missed. Those scraps might have been worthless to the administration which could afford countless full-size scrolls and books to use for their work, but for the slaves with almost nothing they were priceless. Each piece of paper was painstakingly turned into a story, or an illustrated poem, or a silly drawing by a bored kid in a struggle to chase mundanity, and reading and writing lessons were secretly conducted during downtime, spreading knowledge that could never be taken away. The slowly growing resistance also put those same scraps to use, hiding maps and codes inside the seemingly mundane writings and drawings.


    It would be a long time before the growing resistance was actually in a position where they could resist anyone, but Kairen wasn¡¯t about to tell the slaves that their efforts were useless. Even if the hidden maps were constantly replaced with new ones as the Oasis grew, and as countless rumors and minor facts were collated without any real weaknesses discovered, the act itself of working towards their freedom, however vague and far off it might be, did wonders for the spirits of the captives. And freedom or any sort of revolution would be a long time coming. The sands made casual travel between settlements difficult, if not quite impossible. Kairen knew his rats could easily acquire a set of keys for the manacles and cell doors that kept the slaves locked in one place, but there wasn¡¯t anything he could do to help with the next part of any plan. Fighting against the martially superior slavers would either take more slaves than were currently present or a miracle to somehow balance the scales. Kairen¡¯s blessings didn¡¯t qualify yet for the latter. Running away wasn¡¯t any better of an option. Traveling by themselves would keep the slaves away from the worst dangers of the Shifting Sands, and if their only goal was to head somewhere other than Zaros they didn¡¯t need a pathfinder to help guide them. Those small blessings meant that instead of a guided trek through monster-filled territory any slaves making a run for it would simply need to spend days out in the desert by themselves, with minimal supplies, and the need to cover a large distance to reach the safety of another settlement. Furthermore, they would have to do so without the benefits of Kairen¡¯s blessings, particularly the Vitality and Endurance Blessings which often were the only factors keeping the abused slaves alive.


    That wasn¡¯t to say that some of the captives hadn¡¯t risked it. The gender ratio of the slavers was still heavily skewed towards men, and the depredations that the single men in power abused their position to commit were enough to convince a few women that they were better off risking the odds elsewhere. Kairen did what he could for them, gathering as much food as possible and easing the process of their escape through locked doors. None of the women who ran away returned, and Kairen could only hope that they had made it to safety. An even smaller hope was that they would somehow rally others to do something about Zaros, but said hope was mostly idle dreaming. The distances made any combative action difficult, and there wasn¡¯t much incentive to do so in the first place. Slavery was a common practice in most cities, even if it wasn¡¯t paraded around like it was in Zaros, and as such convincing those in power to put an end to a practice that they supported was futile. Other escaped slaves and peasants would be more sympathetic to the cause but lacked the resources needed to actually effect any change.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    No, If Zaros was to be liberated it would have to be through the work of Kairen and his allies, no matter how slow or daunting the prospect might be. Still, the ghost had a few ideas to hopefully make a revolution a bit more manageable. His primary goal was to find a way for one of the slaves to access the same interface that Zar had. There were so many options for growth there that would help the slaves out. Actually getting to that point was the problem. Kairen had been in a good position to see the runic array and ritual that Mr. Mage had used to summon the screen in question, but at the time he had been more than a little distracted by the conversation between Zar and Mr. Mage and the horrible torture they were inflicting on their victim. He could give a basic outline of what he remembered, but unfortunately none of the slaves were ritualists or runecrafters, or had any other relevant skills to help Kairen figure out what needed doing. They were more than willing to provide what help they could, but there was only so much that could be learned or circumvented through trial and error, especially considering no one present had any interest in using human sacrifice to fuel their research. Knowing that a Status Stone had been mentioned as an alternative, Kairen kept an ear out for any news of one being delivered to the Oasis, but it seemed like ordering and paying for one was lower down on the Zar¡¯s list of things to do than Kairen had hoped. The boy had no doubt one would find its way to the Oasis eventually, but the boy had really hoped to have one sooner rather than later.


    Even if recreating the ritual had stalled out for the moment, Kairen had other tasks keeping himself busy. It had taken a fair amount of effort to arrange and even more time to convince himself that it was a good idea to do so, but under Kairen¡¯s orders Alpha had once again snuck into the slave pens, this time carrying a special present in his mouth. Bleached white ivory gleamed in the little light that was available as it played over the polished surface of the finger bone that Alpha had retrieved. Even if the geography had changed over time, and even if the magical growth had hastened its decomposition, Kairen¡¯s body was still right where he had left it, buried under the Oasis. After all this time there wasn¡¯t any meat left to use for testing purposes, but Kairen¡¯s bones would last for a while longer, even in the damp soil they now found themselves residing in. It wouldn¡¯t be something that a slave could simply eat whole, but there were ways to work around that problem.


    ¡°You want me to grind this up?¡± Alya asked dubious, carefully inspecting the small bone. ¡°You do know what it is, right?¡±


    Alpha squeaked affirmatively. Right right, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s some magic shit that would take far too long to explain. Well, I don¡¯t have an actual mortar and pestle, so you¡¯ll just have to settle for some of the powdered bone being lost, alright?¡±


    It hadn¡¯t worked. Alya hadn¡¯t had any difficulties reducing the bone down to a fine powder, and after a long discussion and a few bribes of stolen desserts she had even agreed to mix the powder into a drink and consume some of it. The same bribes and curiosity had convinced some of the other slaves to give it a try as well, the sweet desserts helping to cleanse the taste of the bitter, dirty water. It was as close as Kairen could get to replicating what had happened to Alpha, but none of the humans seemed to be aware of the boy¡¯s presence. Kairen knew it had taken some time before Alpha had spotted him, even if he wasn¡¯t sure if that was tied to the rat¡¯s ability to see him or just coincidence, but he still held out hope that eventually the mixture would do its work. He had more bones to use, and it didn¡¯t seem like they were immediately poisonous or toxic to living humans. Still, even if there was a connection between eating Kairen¡¯s body and being able to see him it was possible that it simply couldn¡¯t be replicated. Drinking bone-infused water wasn¡¯t quite the same as eating one¡¯s body weight worth of food. Still, there wasn¡¯t much Kairen could do about it other than try his best.


    While Kairen would have liked to have had that direct interaction, and while he hoped that it would allow others to see and interact with the Oasis control screens, not having his initial plans work out didn¡¯t hurt as much as the ghost had thought it would. Between his ability to read and write and the medium rats¡¯ willingness to act as intermediaries between him and the slaves, Kairen found that he had recovered most of the ability to interact with people that he had lost. He still missed being able to have physical contact, and having people be able to actually look at him when they were talking would have been nice, but not having it wasn¡¯t world-ending. He was recognized by the slaves, and they were grateful for what he did for them. The food and drinks he stole were nice, but his Blessings had slowly settled into the captives, giving them the endurance needed to push through the difficulties of their situation, while slowly giving them the tools they needed to eventually change things for the better.


    All it would take would be the right moment, and everything would change.

 Chapter 54: Ade

    Ade sighed as he crested one final dune. Ever since the nomads had sold the Oasis to Zar the Elders and his grandfather things had changed for the better. Their initial departure had been somewhat tense, but those feelings quickly faded away once they reached their next destination and could turn the bags of gold into much more useful treasures. New tents and repairs for existing ones were the first priority, but an almost endless water jug also found its way into the possession of the elders, giving the tribe an unprecedented level of security. The newfound wealth combined with Ade¡¯s burgeoning skill as a Pathfinder gave the tribe the confidence they needed to invest in their future growth, in more ways than one.


    More than a few families found themselves with a new addition in the months following their departure from the Oasis. Only a few of them had been actively trying for a child, and the rest deemed themselves either lucky or unlucky to have been affected by a small piece of the magic of the Oasis. Ade found his skills stretched in new directions, as neither pregnant women nor newborn babies made for very capable travelers, and Ade was pushed to use every bit of his skill to find the smoothest, safest paths possible as the tribe moved from place to place. Pathfinder Ahten was always near his grandson, and his grandfather¡¯s presence gave him the confidence he needed to push his limits, knowing that if any mishaps did occur there was a supremely capable pathfinder able to help fix things. Ade had truly come into his own over the circuitous journey around the Sands that only now led them back to the Oasis where so much had changed. The few rumors they had heard about the newly formed city of Zaros had been unsettling, but had been dismissed when weighed against the tribe''s existing relationship with Zar and the resources that the Oasis offered.


    Upon arriving in Zaros, the Elders had parted ways, leaving the rest of the tribe behind to take in the sights while they negotiated a business deal or three. Ade had received a few lessons on negotiation and diplomacy, but was still too young and inexperienced to be allowed to join the elders and had been left with the rest of the tribe. Most of the nomads had made their way into one of the local eateries, eager to eat food that hadn¡¯t been cooked over a campfire, but Ade was more interested in exploring Zaros and seeing just how much the place had changed.


    It took Ade a while to put his finger on what emotions he was feeling as he strolled up and down the streets. At first glance, Zaros seemed to be just another bustling city, one that had exploded in size as opportunists from elsewhere came to make something of themselves. That impression wasn¡¯t wrong, but the longer Ade walked the streets the more Ade realized that there was another emotion buried deep under that spirit of growth. Despair, with a deep intensity that seeped into every interaction, no matter how much most of the population seemed to ignore it, intentionally or otherwise.


    It wasn''t every person that Ade passed, but he continued to spot people with lifeless eyes, going about their work with none of the animating energy that their peers had. It was only after reaching the central part of the city and spotting a specific building that the pieces finally clicked. An auction house, built up to such a degree that it dominated the small square in front of it, the natural flow of the crowds forced to adjust to the steady tide of humanity that entered and left, usually dragging those hopeless individuals behind them. Ade found his feet stuck, unable to move as he processed this strange revelation.


    Slavery wasn¡¯t practiced by the nomads, but that didn¡¯t mean it was an unfamiliar institution to them. Ade had interacted with more than a few slaves this last year, permanent servants of the higher ups of the various places he had travelled. The magistrates and city leaders hadn¡¯t tried to hide the relationship that they had with their human property, but the circumstances Ade had previously been around slaves had done that for them. Those slaves had been in their positions for years. Not only had they become resigned to their fates, but that duration had allowed them the time needed to rebuild and reclaim their identity. They were obedient slaves, and while the threat of power was presence, it was quiet and distant from lack of use.


    This auction house had none of those factors working in its favor. Not only were the slaves coming and going new to their circumstances, unwilling to accept their new fate in life, but there was no veneer of civility to restrain the efforts of the slavers. The building was a proud edifice to the horrors that intelligent beings were willing to inflict on others, just because they could. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Ade had travelled enough that he would have bristled at the implication he was sheltered, but the shock of what he was seeing was enough to leave him lost in thought. He could easily have spent several minutes slowly letting his worldview adjust, but his train of thought was cut short by a strange squeaking noise that seemed to be directed towards him. It took Ade a few moments to realize that the unusual sound he had been hearing was being made by a rat, and not a normal rodent. Larger than rats that Ade had seen in other cities, the noisemaker had perched himself in the entrance to an alley, and once Ade made eye contact with the creature it backed away slowly, keeping his unusually intelligent gaze on him as it encouraged him to come closer and figure out what was happening. A small part of Ade¡¯s mind was worried about an ambush or trap, but his curiosity easily overrode that line of thought. Using trained rats as bait for a mugging was a little too outlandish to actually be something that happened.


    Ade made his way into the alley, ducking past a few piles of trash that had built up before he caught up to the rat. The small creature had come to a halt just outside a small grate placed low in the wall, and once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ade realized that there was a person looking out at him from a dark room. She beckoned him closer, and he carefully kneeled down, positioning himself so that he could see her face to face.


    ¡°We do not have much time.¡± She stated seriously. ¡°The Oasis Spirit has warned us that your people are in great danger. Zar couldn¡¯t stop you from leaving last time, but he now rules this city with an iron fist. Having you run free endangers that rule, if only slightly.


    ¡°Wha?¡± Ade started to ask, only to be preempted by the girl.


    ¡°The spirit was still new when you found him. His power has grown with time and with it so has his ability to communicate. He wishes to be free of the control of evil men, but for now he simply wishes to help those who first helped him.


    She quickly pushed a small bundle through the grate. ¡°These copied keys should open up the gates as well as most of the common shackles that they use. Now go! Save yourselves before it¡¯s too late.¡±


    Taking the precious bundle, Ade stood up. The slave¡¯s words had had a tinge of desperation to them, just enough for Ade to accept them as the truth, and that left him very little time to sit around and think. Pocketing the keys, he began to bull his way back to the row of taverns that most of the nomads had found their way over to. Just before he left the alley, he heard the girl''s final words. ¡°Just don¡¯t forget about us.¡±


    The words stayed in the Pathfinder¡¯s mind, but he would have time to react to them later. For now, he simply needed to move. Every step brought him closer to the safety of his companions, but Ade was now fully aware of the avaricious gazes that tracked his movement, watching as he weaved his way through the city. Fortunately, they were content to watch for the moment. He managed to reach the closest tavern without incident and stumbled inside, eyes quickly moving to locate one of his friends to head over to, his posture changing as he did so.


    Poise was not something Ade had expected to pick up during his early lessons on leadership, but it eventually made sense. Actions spoke louder than words, and both were far more meaningful than simple body positioning when it came to inspiring followers, but there were times that neither words nor actions would be available. By being aware of how he was standing, Ade was able to convey a simple message for others to pick up on, one that only needed his presence to be visible.


    As he strode across the hard packed floor of the tavern, Ade could feel his body moving in accordance with his desires. The tavern was filled with his fellow tribesmen, but there were just as many residents of Zaros present, individuals who ultimately followed Zar¡¯s orders. Simply yelling out his fears would hurt Ade¡¯s nascent plan almost as much as it would help, and Ade found himself using every half-learned principle he could remember to convey a sense of seriousness. It wasn¡¯t his usual posture, and he hoped that it would be enough to convince his compatriots to listen to his otherwise innocuous suggestion of heading to another tavern to regroup with their friends.


    It was a much larger group that left the tavern, and Ade was grateful that at least a little of his worry had infected the others. Some of the younger men were simply interested in sampling the drinks of another location, but most had sobered up quickly and had fallen into an unofficial escort position around Ade. As they quickly strolled towards their next target, Ade could only hope that the elders would be alright until he could rescue them from Zar.

 Chapter 55: Ade

    The atmosphere was tense.


    While nothing Ade had done yet was strictly illegal, the large gathering of nomads making their way through the streets was certainly eye catching. Scarred men with the appearance of mercenaries or fighters gripped their weapons tightly, anticipating the oncoming violence but unwilling to start it themselves. Rich women pulled their spoiled children inside, and shut the doors tightly, hunkering down in supposed safety. The slaves had the most varied reaction, some looking at the desert dwellers with hope in their eyes, while others shied away, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves, good or bad. There were a few who still had a spark of violence in their eye, and Ade knew that if things devolved into chaos they would be the first to grasp for freedom, whatever it took.


    Further away were the individuals trailing the group. The local guards, as well as a few new drinking companions who hadn¡¯t quite caught on to the sudden change in plans for the afternoon. Harder to make out were the rats who somehow kept pace, flitting and flickering from alley to rooftop without revealing their presence to any of the humans. Simple flashes of fur or glints of light off of keen eyes were the only hints that there was another side present in the mounting drama.


    Something had to give in this strange scenario, and the catalyst was Ade¡¯s arrival at the Governor''s Mansion, the palatial dwelling that Zar had built for himself and used to hold all of his business dealings. Of more immediate concern to Ade than the decorated roofs or the detailed garden were the thick walls surrounding the place and the squad of alert guards out front, alert and ready for trouble.


    ¡°Good afternoon!¡± Ade called out as he drew near, not missing how as one the guards shifted their footing to a more active stance. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have an urgent piece of news that I need to pass on to Elder Shan. It¡¯s his granddaughter.¡± Any further explanation or negotiation was cut short by two of their guards leveling their spears at Ade while another two half pulled out their swords from their scabbards. The Pathfinder came to a halt as he desperately searched for a path through this growing disaster that would keep him and his people safe.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a better idea.¡± The lead guard with a spear sneered at the nomads. ¡°Get down on the ground and beg for your lives, and maybe we won¡¯t just kill you here and now.¡±


    Slowly, with exaggerated movements, Ade followed the guard¡¯s commands. He wasn¡¯t a supreme warrior who could take on the world and win. He was just a Pathfinder, one that was learning to be a leader. And part of learning to lead is knowing when to let experts go about their work. With all eyes drown to Ade, the menacing guard didn¡¯t even notice as Jeb flashed across the distance his sword opening up a throat and stabbing another guard in the chest. There was one last chilled moment of silence as everyone came to terms with what had happened, and then all hell broke loose.


    Immediately the nomads were attacked from all sides, but their foes were disorganized, staggered by rebelling slaves and enraged rodents. ¡°Clear us a path out of here!¡± Ade yelled, before grabbing Jeb and another fighter and rushing into the house.


    Despite the general opulence of the place, Zar simply hadn¡¯t had enough time to actually turn his property into a giant mansion. As such it didn¡¯t take long for Ade and his companions to reach the meeting hall, and with the element of surprise on their side they easily dispatched the guards waiting out front in a quick fight that threw the doors wide open. Ade quickly scanned the faces of everyone in the room before turning his attention towards Zar. The man might be vile and reprehensible, but he had earned his rank as an adventurer. It would take everything Ade had to keep him at bay while he got the elders out. Already they were stumbling out of their seats hurrying over towards Ade and the safety he represented even as he moved forwards to interact with Zar. All except for Pathfinder Ahten, who was firmly held in his seat right next to Zar, unable to move due to the muscled hand keeping him still.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk.¡±

 Chapter 56: Kairen

    Kairen had come a long way with his abilities. His connection with his rats allowed him to communicate and coordinate with the slaves, and his undetectable presence let him act as the perfect spy, gathering information about Zar¡¯s plans in the hopes of one day using it to bring the mercenary down. He had learned to push the limits of the Oasis system, allowing him to push back against Mr. Mage¡¯s rituals, and was constantly finding new ways to bring the various blessings he had obtained to bear on whatever situation he could.


    Despite all that, Kairen still found himself caught in the role of the observer, unable to do anything but watch as a tense showdown occurred between Zar and Ade. Kairen barely recognized the young Pathfinder, who had grown up in multiple ways since he last left the Oasis, but he had the same features and an undeniable connection to the old man that Zar was holding hostage. Unable to be noticed, Kairen simply watched, knowing the success or failure of all their plans rested on the outcome between these two people. He wasn¡¯t idle, however. His body and gaze might be located in this room, but Kairen had learned that his new existence as a spirit possessed more senses than he had had while he was alive. He was directly tied into the Oasis, and through that connection he could gather a rough understanding of what was happening throughout the city. All over slaves were taking advantage of the chaos to strike back at their masters, and Alpha¡¯s children were always nearby, ready to take advantage of any openings they could to safely swing the odds into the slaves¡¯ favor. A dense group of people that Kairen realized were the nomads were slowly making their way to the north gate, pushing back the harassing guards, but unwilling to rush away while their two primary pathfinders were still missing. The slave pens were slowly being emptied as well, months of effort paying off as slave after slave slipped away. And through it all Zar and Ade glared at each other.


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed you made it this far.¡± Zar casually admitted. ¡°You don¡¯t even know how to hold that spear you¡¯ve picked up from one of my guards. It takes guts to try something like this, but that won¡¯t be enough, not against me and mine. Because at the end of the day, it all boils down to power.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that.¡± Ade answered. ¡°Other things besides power matter. Family. Friends. Reputation. I might not be able to beat you in a fight, but how well do you think Zaros will do once the rest of the nomads spread the news of just what you¡¯re doing here.¡±


    Zar let out a dark chuckle. ¡°How foolishly Naive of you.  Most of the people in the other cities might not like what I do, but they don¡¯t get a say in things, the ones in charge, the ones with power.¡± Zar let the word curl around in his mouth. ¡°They know what I can give them, what having power buys them. But I think you¡¯re skipping a few steps in your threats there boy. The old man here can¡¯t leave, and you won¡¯t leave without him. So how exactly is your tribe supposed to escape and reach another city with you still here? They might have a few fighters and the element of surprise, but I have more guards and better training. It¡¯s only a matter of time before everyone you know is either killed or captured.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re that confident, why don¡¯t you let your hostage go and fight me man to man? Run me through if I truly don¡¯t have a chance, because that¡¯s the only way that you¡¯re going to get me to stop coming after you.¡± Ade snarled, raising his spear up into a more threatening pose.


    ¡°If I wanted to kill you I would have, but Pathfinders are rare, and I haven¡¯t given up on the idea of controlling you just yet. After all, if you were to simply surrender and agree to work for me I could instantly send the word to have my men stand down, no one needs to die. Unless you want them too.¡± The charisma and years of experience that had let Zar charm his way through life as a mercenary captain were on full display, and Kairen could see the words having an effect, pitting Ade¡¯s core desires against each other.


    ¡°Zar saw it as well, and pressed the verbal attack. ¡°It¡¯s not like most of you nomads would make for very good slaves, so I¡¯m not all that attached to the idea of capturing them. I was simply a spur of the moment plan. Sign a three-year contract to work for me and we can end this right now. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid your grandfather here is going to be in a world of pain real soon.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The answer was sharp, solid, and came from a surprising source. Before Ade had a chance to think it over, let alone respond to Zar, Pathfinder Ahten had already shut down that line of conversation. ¡°Freedom is not something so easily bought or sold, and Ade is not an Elder of the tribe to speak for the rest of us. We refuse your offer, Zar Bloodwake, and every evil intention you have buried within it.¡± Any further speech was cut short by Zar stabbing the old man in his shoulder, cutting him off short as he grimaced through the pain.


    Ade had made up his mind. ¡°He¡¯s right. I can¡¯t speak for the tribe, but I can trust that they¡¯re doing their best to make it through this fight. I¡¯m just here for my grandfather. I might not be able to fight you for him, but there is something I can do.¡±


    Without taking his eyes off of Zar, Ade swung his spear in a large circle, knocking the fancy plates and cups to the ground with dents or cracks. His swing continued around behind him, knocking a vase over and leaving a long scratch through an artistic mural he had noticed on his way into the room. I may be a nuisance, but I can certainly do my best to be an annoying one. You want us alive, but as long as you are busy holding onto my grandfather you won¡¯t be able to actually put me down. So let him go and fight me. I¡¯ll take the long shot of winning.¡± Ade swung the spear again, reveling in the sound of breaking valuables. ¡°


    It shouldn¡¯t have worked. Kairen could see the traces of desperation, the tension on Ade¡¯s face as he desperately searched for a solution. Zar held all the cards in this competition. The nomads couldn¡¯t take over the city, and sooner or later one of Zar¡¯s allies or minions would arrive and change the tenuous balance that existed. Zar knew all this, he just didn¡¯t care. Perhaps it was arrogance. Perhaps it was anger at his possessions being destroyed, perhaps he simply wanted to take care of things himself instead of waiting for help. But with a casual gesture the mercenary stabbed Pathfinder Ahten in the gut and let him drop. It wasn¡¯t a fatal wound, but it would keep the old man incapacitated until a healer could look him over.


    Confident in his martial capability, Zar stalked towards Ade. Kairen put all his energy into bringing his blessing and debuffs to bear, but there was only so much that he could do.


    Kairen could provide a small boost to a large number of people, not a singular boost capable of bridging the gap between the two combatants, but that didn¡¯t stop the ghost from trying. Combined with the spear¡¯s ease of use, it was just enough to keep Ade alive and in the fight. But every block and stab took more and more energy out of the young man, who was already tired from running around the city collecting his tribe to get them to safety. Soon, he made a small mistake and left his spear extended after a stab for a moment too long.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Clang! Zar¡¯s sword cut the spear in half, dropping the tip to the floor and leaving Ade with barely a club to swing. Before Ade could react to the sudden maneuver Zar was already swinging again, aiming a heavy blow at the boy¡¯s arm that would seal the deal. Kairen could only watch as the blade came down, propelled with frightening speed and power to cripple the young pathfinder.


    It missed.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you do that.¡± Ahten spoke up, drawing all attention to him. His robes were stained with blood from his wound, and a thin layer of sweat had started to bead on his forehead from this exertion, but Ade¡¯s grandfather stood tall.


    ¡°Ade. Our tribe needs you. I¡¯ll keep Zar occupied, but you need to run.¡±


    Kairen watched as Ade swallowed half a dozen sentences in the span of a second. He sympathized with Ade. He had come all this way to save his grandfather, only to be the one that needed saving. Granted, Ade hadn¡¯t had a plan and had managed to get the other elders out of Zar¡¯s grasp, but having to leave his grandfather behind had to have been difficult. With a jerky nod, Ade stumbled towards the door. Zar made to intercept him with a sudden lunge, only to once again come up short despite first appearances.


    ¡°Your fight is with me, not him.¡± Ahten said, and the walls of the room rippled as the old man gave up on subtlety. ¡°All paths lead to me right now.¡±


    A part of Kairen wanted to leave the room with Ade to witness his and the nomads escape, to do what he could to coordinate the rats around the city. However, Ade couldn¡¯t. Much like Ahten had said, every path led towards him. No matter which direction Kairen chose he always found himself turned around and heading towards the Pathfinder before he could leave the room. It was a display of Pathfinder capability that Kairen had never heard of before, and it seemed to stymie Zar as well. Unable to phase through walls, it didn¡¯t take Zar long to realize that exiting through the door was currently impossible. With the promise of violence in his eyes, he turned his attention towards the one responsible. What followed was probably the strangest fight that Kairen had ever seen or heard of..


    Pathfinder Ahten had no weapons. He was slowly bleeding from a stab wound, but was somehow still the person in control of the fight. Even if he couldn¡¯t harm Zar, simply keeping him tied up was all that he needed to do, giving Ade and the rest of the tribe the time they needed to escape. Zar was forced to try again and again to attack Ahten, only for every attack to mis. It wasn¡¯t that Ahten was physically dodging the mercenary¡¯s attacks. Rather, it was as if every single approach that Zar took to get to Pathfinder Ahten was the incorrect one. But every attempt took a little bit more life out of the old man, and so the attacks continued.


    Unable to strike back, Ahten took the time to monologue, doing what he could to distract and delay Zar. ¡°You¡¯re wrong, you know. Power might be all that matters at any given moment, but reality is constantly moving and changing. Sooner or later everyone with power will lose it. In that moment, when their power isn¡¯t enough to save them, I wonder what else they might have pursued. Love is not so easily torn away, and has a power the power hungry can never truly grasp. Let me show you.¡±


    BY now Ahten had clearly reached his limits, but after his little speech Zar approached cautiously, while Kairen shifted to the other side of the room. Better safe than sorry when dealing with someone who could trap him, after all. Turning his attention back towards Pathfinder Ahten, Kairen watched as Zar managed to nick his arm, before pulling back for a killing strike.


    ¡°The Path that leads Nowhere.¡± Ahten intoned, and space broke.


    Zar¡¯s reactions were top notch and he immediately pulled back, doing his best to create as much distance as possible between him and the Pathfinder¡¯s last attack. It wasn¡¯t enough. The affected area took a second to realign itself before turning pitch black and vanishing, leaving a gaping crater where Ahten had been standing. Zar lay sprawled on the edge, missing the bottom half of one leg and in no condition to fight. There was no sign of Ahten.


    Kairen watched as Zar came to. It didn¡¯t take long for him to fashion a tourniquet for his leg to stop the bleeding, but until he could get it healed he wouldn¡¯t be in any condition to fight. Any contribution he might provide would be in leadership only. Wanting to get a better idea of how Ade was progressing, Kairen began to move.


    Most of the time Kairen still thought of himself as human. He walked like one, saw the world as one, but he wasn¡¯t human. He walked because it was how his mind was used to getting around, but over the last few months Kairen had been working on that implicit assumption that the rules of reality he followed were actually binding. As he ran through Zaros, Kairen began to pick up speed. Each invisible step took him further and further, faster and faster until Kairen was no longer running but simply blinking from one corner to the next relying on his knowledge of the Oasis to guide him towards the destination he had in mind.


    The nomads had made good progress in getting out of the city alive. Their fighters had taken up positions around the perimeter of their group, doing their best to protect the elderly and the children from the battle hungry guards who trailed along behind them, waiting for an opportunity to strike. That opportunity came when the nomads reached the gate out of the city. Perhaps the guards had expected the gate to pose a true obstacle to the tribe, but the crude keys Ade had obtained from the slave were able to unlock the massive structure. It would still take time to open, and with some of the strong men thus occupied the slavers took the chance to attack before it was too late.


    Ade might not have been a fighter, but his arrival gave the nomads the knowledge that they needed to focus on their escape. No longer did they have to slowly linger hoping for Ade or Ahten to catch up. Everyone who was leaving was here, and they could focus solely on getting past the gate.


    The fighting was fierce, and chaotic, made more so by slaves and rats joining in to attack the occupied guards. The gate had been opened a crack and there were still a few men working the mechanisms to open it further, but it wasn¡¯t truly necessary. Ade might not have reached the power his grandfather had possessed, but expanding the space between the gates was within his capability. With the gate fully opened the nomadic fighters found a surge of energy, attacking the slavers with a sudden ferocity that caught them off guard. Just a few seconds later all the slavers were dead, even if their opponents had exhausted themselves to do so. Without the energy for another fight, they too slipped out through the gate, and once the last of them had made it out into the desert Ade let the gate return to its usual size. Making his way to the front of the group, he began the difficult task of guiding everyone to a safe place that they could rest and recover at. There would be plenty of time then to go over what had happened today, to mourn for the lives lost and the tragedies that had occurred. For now, it was enough that they had simply survived.


    Kairen watched the nomads head out into the desert, quickly fading from sight, before turning his attention back towards the slave pens he had been working on. Not a slave was in sight and Kairen let an invisible smile spread across his face at the overwhelming success of his other plans, even as he mourned the end of Pathfinder Ahten.

 Chapter 57: Kairen

    Even with the nomads safely escaping into the desert Kairen knew his work wasn¡¯t finished. While a good number of slaves had managed to make their way to freedom with the nomads or had risked the Sands by themselves far more were still inside Zaros, either locked away, fighting for their freedom, or dying slowly. Kairen¡¯s heart went out to those who had given their lives, who had helped fight against the evil in the city even when they knew that they themselves would not benefit from the struggle. He couldn¡¯t do anything for the dead though. The living slaves, though, had a chance to change things.


    The few slaves actively involved in combat were the hardest to help. Not only did they have the most people watching them, there just wasn¡¯t much that Kairen could do when it came to situations that required applications of raw power. Here and there his rat minions were able to provide critical distractions, but all too often the struggling slaves were outnumbered to the point that any help the desert rodents provided would simply be tossing their lives away for nothing. On top of that, Kairen knew that one of his main advantages was that Zar and his minions hadn¡¯t realized that the rats were being coordinated by a human level intelligence, much less one that had the information gathering capabilities that came with being a ghost. The rats were smarter than an average rat by themselves, and had enough autonomy and internalized hatred of the slavers that most of their harassment today would simply be thought of as more of their usual behaviour.


    That didn¡¯t mean Kairen wasn¡¯t willing to let the slaves know about his existence. Knowing that the spirit of the Oasis was present and was working to help the slaves escape was a significant source of hope for the slaves still kept in the common holding pens, and the chaos of combat gave Kairen the chances he needed to reveal the truth to the household slaves that lived in Zaros. Some of them were too beaten down, too conditioned to their roles to be trusted with his secrets, but more than one slave found themselves encountering an unusually intelligent rat, capable of weaving a path through the chaos, through hidden passages and shadowed alleys to safe havens that Kairen had spent months setting up. It pushed Kairen to the limits, flitting too and for as he worked to lead the slaves three or four at a time, yet he was unwilling to go any slower. It wouldn¡¯t take long for some semblance of order to be restored and Kairen wanted as many slaves as possible to be safe from the inevitable retribution that would follow. Only once all the fighting had stopped and his latest group of escapees had almost gotten caught did Kairen allow himself to relax, falling into an unconscious slumber from the exertion he had put himself through.


    For once Kairen was glad that no one could hear him. It would have been difficult to stay silent as he watched Zar¡¯s minions slowly dig up the escape tunnel the slaves had used to get out of the holding cell. Kairen knew that there wasn¡¯t going to be any way of hiding that the slaves had escaped and had chosen to implement a different strategy for covering his tracks.


    ¡°Sir!¡± One of the workers called out, grabbing Zar¡¯s attention. The mercenary¡¯s leg was still missing, but a brace allowed him to move around with some effort and standing imperiously nearby didn¡¯t take much effort.


    ¡°The tunnel just ends, Sir. We¡¯ve hit sand again.¡±


    Before Kairen had formed his Oasis the entire area had been part of the shifting sands. While there was bedrock somewhere down there, it was deep, deep below the surface, reachable only with powerful magic. The Oasis had transmuted the surface level sand into solid dirt and stone when it formed, but had only done so for a few meters at most. Kairen had the ability to increase the thickness of his Oasis using his upgrade screen, but even then it would have taken centuries worth of growth before he would have connected his Oasis with the actual bedrock. Instead, the Oasis was an island of solid rock floating on a sea of sand as were all Oasis. So when the miners dug down and reached a layer of sand, their first thought was that they had simply reached the bottom edge of the oasis. Expanding their bottom section of the tunnel merely confirmed this suspicion, as they uncovered more and more sand. With no sign of any other tunneling Zar reluctantly called off the search.


    Kairen winced as he worried over what this failure would mean for the few slaves who remained in captivity, before slowly sinking into the ground himself. He couldn¡¯t see while surrounded by earth and stone, but he could feel the material he was passing through and could orient himself using his knowledge of the Oasis as a whole. down he went through stone and dirt before hitting the layer of sand that had stopped the miners, before continuing once more.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the gritty texture of sand to once more give way to solid rock, and Kairen kept on dropping until he arrived at the well-lit cavern he had created. The Oasis upgrade that made his controlled area deeper hadn¡¯t had much value to Kairen when he had first started to build up the Oasis. Only once Mr. Mage had started performing his cruel rituals had Kairen found an interest in putting upgrade points in any option other than the one that Mr. Mage had been pushing for, and even then it had taken a few months before He was forced to make the Oasis land deeper. Unintentionally, holding off on purchasing a fundamental level upgrade had allowed Kairen to strengthen his willpower to a degree he hadn¡¯t had for any of the other upgrades. While the System behind it all still did most of the heavy work of remaking the desert into solid ground, Kairen found that he had a small degree of guidance he could provide. At first it was only useful for preserving the tunnels that Alpha and his family had made, but the act of doing so had given the ghost ideas.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The rats were excellent diggers, but even they couldn¡¯t compare to the sheer volume of area that Kairen could affect when he put his mind to it. He only had a few opportunities to do so, but a series of ever larger pockets of sand beneath the slave pens marked his progress in controlling the upgrade process. They weren¡¯t the empty caves he wanted, but the sand left behind lacked a property that the rest of Kairen¡¯s dirt had. It wasn¡¯t immune to the cleansing property that kept the pool of water in the center of the Oasis clear no matter how much sand the wind or people deposited inside it. Constructing a small tunnel to the pond allowed for a steady flow of water to wash away the sand, even if it took some ingenuity to build it in such a way that the digging rats weren¡¯t harmed by the sudden flow of water, and so that they could close it off once the caves had been cleared out. But once that was finished Kairen found himself with a large amount of real estate that no one knew about except for him. The rats took over one of the smaller caves, using it to stockpile their stolen wealth, but the other caverns held more than enough space to hide all the slaves. Figuring out a way to hide the escape tunnel took some more work, and Kairen was still worried that his ruse would eventually be discovered, but for now all the slaves that had been waiting to be auctioned off were safe underground, with enough food to last a few days, and with torchlight keeping their mood up as they slowly worked to acclimatize to their new environment.


    It wasn¡¯t a long-term solution. Even though the rats were masters at stealing just about anything that wasn¡¯t nailed down and a few things that were, there simply weren¡¯t enough of them to steal enough food to feed all of the slaves now hiding underground. Some of the tunnels were large enough for a human to fit through, so the people could feed themselves, but every time someone entered or left the hidden sanctuary was another chance for the whole thing to be found out. Instead, Kairen had plans for what would happen next, once the slaves had some time to adjust to being free and to recover their strength.


    The more likely plan was simply leaving. The walls that had been built around Zaros had deep foundations, but the Oasis as a whole had grown since the walls were first built, and Kairen knew there were at least three tunnels large enough for slaves to slip through to take them out of Zaros, along with a dozen smaller ones the rats used to get around. Getting everyone out in one go would be difficult, but with the intention of leaving they could afford to more aggressively steal supplies. They would still need to survive crossing the sands, but with the proper equipment and not caring about their destination Kairen gave them pretty good odds of making it to safety. The downside was that other than the loss of slaves and supplies, it didn¡¯t really set back Zar much. Zaros was making him a lot of money, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before more slaves were filling his pens waiting to be sold to his buyers.


    Kairen knew that he wasn¡¯t to blame for the evil acts that Zar committed, that as long as he was doing what he could to make things right he was blameless in the matter. A year of watching people being broken into slaves had taught him lessons of patience he wished he hadn¡¯t had to learn, but they gave Kairen the mental fortitude he needed to press on in the face of overwhelming evil. If the best option was to help his current rescuers escape and let Zar capture more slaves, then so be it. Kairen wasn¡¯t going anywhere, and could figure out how to help any future slaves when he reached that moment in time. However, the nomads now knew about Zaros, and that gave the young ghost a chance. Until now Zar had been careful to only reveal the existence of Zaros to those clients of his who he knew wouldn¡¯t object to its existence. Transporting armies across the Shifting Sands might be difficult, but sending a few high-level fighters to stomp out a small settlement was something that a good number of cities would do to help protect the villages in their area. Zaros was established enough now that any such attempt would be a much larger investment, but Kairen still held out hope that someone would throw their weight into attacking the city.


    If the slaves hadn¡¯t managed to leave by that point then their sudden attack from inside the fortified city, along with showing any outsiders the tunnels needed to bypass the walls would hopefully be enough to see the Oasis in friendlier hands. It was a long shot, but the preparations for it were much the same as simply planning to leave so Kairen simply held his thoughts to himself and waited to see what the future would hold.

 Chapter 58: Ade

    A conclave of the clans.


    It wasn¡¯t something that had happened in ages, as far as Ade could remember. Space and distance might be strange in the Shifting Sands, but for the most part different tribes had their own areas that they wandered around in. They might occasionally cross paths with another tribe at a large city when conducting trade, but that was a rare occurrence and three tribes meeting at the same city at the same time was unheard of. If Ade wanted to gather the necessary number of people needed to liberate Zaros, then he needed more support than that. Convening a conclave was the best option available to him, even if it wasn¡¯t an easy task.


    Most of the time, Ade¡¯s job as Pathfinder was simply to stabilize reality. Not in the sense that it was falling apart, but in the sense that the world was dancing around just outside of sight. He likened it to the behaviour of a drunk man who keeps insisting that the world is spinning on him, and who, despite his best efforts, was unable to walk the straight line needed to leave the room without first running into a table or three. In the world of the metaphorical drunk, the sober man gets to give directions. Or something like that anyways. Pathfinder Ahten preferred to use sight-based metaphors, likening his pathfinding sense as an extra layer of depth perception, which Ade understood but didn¡¯t fully agree with. Even then Ade knew that there were difficulties in comparing one sense to another even without the unique capabilities that all Pathfinders seemed to possess. The metaphors might not be perfect, but they provided the structure and logic needed for a novice to try something they had never done before.


    Calling a conclave was definitely a skill that Ade was a novice at, and then only because there wasn¡¯t any lower categorization available. Not only was it something he had never attempted, it was something Pathfinder Ahten had never attempted, nor had any of the other Pathfinders that had led the tribe before then. All Ade had to go on was an oral tale of what should happen, and the inability to accept failure as an option.


    With full support from the rest of the tribe, Ade began to use his powers. What he was doing was something he had only practiced a few times, and never with this goal in mind. Most of the time when Ade was acting in the role of Pathfinder he had a specific destination in mind. Sometimes it was a known location he was trying to return to, other times it was a resource or other need he was trying to fulfill by heading towards it. Instead of heading anywhere, Ade now was attempting to become the destination. In the variable and ever changing Sands, the small plateau the nomads had camped on was turned into an island of stability, a metaphorical beacon that would slowly pull other pathfinders towards it by its sheer existence. It wasn¡¯t perfect. Ade knew that showing up here would represent a significant detour for many of the tribes in the area, and he also knew that that was something his counterparts would be trying to avoid, intentionally or not. In a very real way, Ade was pitting his desire for assistance against other tribes'' desire to go about their regular routine, and hoping his will was sufficient to bring them here regardless.


    It didn¡¯t work.


    His attempts weren¡¯t completely useless, Ade could feel the effort it took to reach out into the Sands, and being stationary for once gave him a better picture of just how the world over the next dune could suddenly lead to a different place than it had the previous second, but attempting to force the other tribes to arrive here felt like he was trying to lift up an entire sand dune with his bare hands. It wasn¡¯t enough to make sure that the next step of his Path was the correct one. He needed to guarantee that every inch of desert between him and all the other tribes in the area was solid, an impermeable bridge that crossed the distance between them that would last until their arrival. It was a monumental undertaking and every attempt Ade made shattered as quickly as he began.


    Hoping that it might be easier somewhere else, that a different patch of sand might be closer to the other tribes by sheer luck. Ade quietly talked with the Elders and soon the tribe was on the move. Travelling slowly, burdened as they were with injured and escaped slaves, but continually stepping forwards into the unknown, still hopeful that Ade would bring them to a solution. Looking at their hopeful faces almost made Ade confess right then and there his many failures, but instead he held his tongue, climbed up onto a camel, closed his eyes, and began to think.


    Normally Ade would lead from the front, picking out the path needed to get to a specific destination. If all he wanted to do was to reach a single clan, then doing so would help his goal, with every carefully chosen step leading him closer to another tribe. But doing so would only help him contact a single tribe, and while they might be sympathetic to his cause, they could just as easily decide to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of their own tribe over helping out the injured nomads following Ade, or agreeing to the even more risky strategem of taking the fight back to Zaros. Sitting in the middle of the caravan, Ade pondered the bitter truth of the situation for a while, rolling it over in his mind. His whole life he had been training to be a Pathfinder, and although he was capable of the impressive feat of leading a large group across the sands to meet up with another group that was also in the Sands, it wasn¡¯t enough.Everyone else thought that they simply needed a Pathfinder to fix things, but Ade knew that what they actually needed was a miracle, conveniently wrapped up in the form of a heroic Pathfinder. A conclave would be that miracle, changing the equation for any interaction with other nomad tribes. The other tribes would still have their own concerns and reservations, but they would have to weigh them against a need great enough to draw them all together.


    That last thought tugged on Ade¡¯s memories, and he took a minute to recall what he could of past conclaves. There had always been a reason for them to be called, from intelligent monsters that were slowly picking off nomad tribes, to a new disease that required all the collective resources and knowledge of the nomads to cure. Ade had reasoned that the tribes of old simply didn¡¯t bother to call a conclave unless there was a large problem that needed to be dealt with, but even then he should have heard a cautionary tale about not abusing the power available to him. Surely, if such a thing was possible, other would have been at least one egotistical tribe that abused the privilege available to it to settle a marriage dispute or the like? But there wasn¡¯t, and Ade was beginning to think that there was more involved with the need aspect of a conclave.


    As for creating that need, Ade merely closed his eyes and let himself feel all the emotions he had kept locked away until now, the pain and terror of his flight, and the aching pit in his heart that his grandfather¡¯s absence had caused. It was a void, a pit with no bottom that refused to change no matter how many times his mind turned towards it. His grandfather, Pathfinder Ahten, was gone. Most likely dead, but the uncertainty gnawed on Ade. Death wasn¡¯t an unusual occurrence in the Sands, but this specific incident was unusual. If it had been old age or a powerful monster Ade would have still grieved, but he could have at least accepted the loss as inevitable, but for it to happen as a result of a conflict with other people, a conflict that Ade had in many ways instigated, hurt. Any moment that Ade wasn¡¯t focused on the tasks ahead of him he found his mind endlessly replaying the events that had happened, going over every single second wondering if he could have pushed things towards a better outcome, but always he pushed those thoughts away, anchoring himself with the next thing that needed to be done for the tribe.


    If he had been by himself Ade would have gladly lost himself to that despair and self-recrimination. But he wasn¡¯t, and he couldn¡¯t. Once again he focused his thoughts towards the future, toward creating that meeting place for tribes to come together, but this time he let himself continue to feel those raw emotions. He needed the power and pressure they provided, even as he risked losing his focus. It was a balancing act that Ade had never walked before and hoped to never walk again. More than once he found himself either pushing those emotions away or forgetting to keep his Pathfinding abilities active, but every time that happened he would simply roll his shoulders and give it another try as the tribe continued to slowly move across the desert.


    By the twentieth time Ade immersed himself in his emotions, he had learned how to do so enough to make a modicum of progress. In the awareness of his greater surroundings that being a Pathfinder provided, the young man could feel things he had never felt before. Infinitely far away and impossibly solid compared to everything else, Ade was sure that the dozens of strange things were other pathfinders, making their way across the Sands, or perhaps taking well-deserved breaks in cities. Curious, Ade tried to force the issue, bringing his will to bear and commanding one of the towering objects to come closer to him. It worked, barely, but the pressure left Ade gasping for air. He had a modicum of power, a rare talent for Pathfinding, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to simply force another group who knows where to appear before him. However, as Ade recovered his energy, he realized that that wasn¡¯t what he needed to do.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Dimly, so faint they could barely be seen, Ade felt the impact that his fellow tribesmen were having on the Sands. Even if they could never become Pathfinders, everyone had at least that little spark of talent necessary to eventually save themselves if they were lost in the Sands and didn''t die to monsters or dehydration first. It was such a small ability that most never even took it into consideration, but Ade could see now that it was more complicated than that.


    Every person here had just undergone the same terrible ordeal that Ade had endured. Some had lost friends, others had lost family, and all had been exposed to the horrific place that Zar had transformed the once welcoming Oasisinto. Their intent was not fueled with a simple desire to get from point A to point B, but all the complex emotions that were surging through them. Even more apparent was the support of the other apprentice Pathfinders. While Tor, Amy, and Kane might not have had the Talent or the family relations to be nominated as the next Pathfinder for the whole tribe, it didn¡¯t diminish their actual capability or the diligent work that they had put into training themselves as best they could. Ade might only be able to leverage his own personal strength, but his gut was telling him that his tribe as a whole was more than capable of overpowering any of the other Pathfinders he had noticed. He didn¡¯t know what the consequences of doing so would be, or how it could be done, but the overall power balance was in his favor. But a time continued to pass by, Ade began to realize that the conflict he had been imagining wasn¡¯t necessary after all.


    As the nomads moved onwards towards their mysterious goal, Ade watched the world far beyond his present location. The other Pathfinders seemed to dance as they moved towards their goal, sliding through and around each other in ways that wouldn''t work in a physical goal, but that Ade was slowly able to decipher. Instead of forcefully pulling the other tribes towards them, the unconscious desire of the nomads present was simply to arrange a meeting. It didn¡¯t have to be here, or any specific location at all. He didn''t need to force a tribe to stay in one spot or head in a specific direction. All that needed to be done was to slowly arrange the world so that all the paths would happen to pass through the same spot. It was bending and weaving an invisible tapestry, shortening all paths involved as a gesture of goodwill, while also varying the aid to make sure the timing would be right. Even as Ade watched the gestalt will of the tribe at work, his mind whirled as he tried to remember as much as possible, a dozen methods of improving his Pathfinding whirling through his mind, some blatantly impossible for a single person to perform, and others that would be the end result of a lifetime of practice. So lost was he in his inspection that it was only when he realized the pathfinders were about to intercept each other that he was broken out of his study.


    ¡°Well done everyone!¡± He called out.¡±We¡¯re almost there, so start getting things ready for the meeting.¡± That warning, vague as it was, was still enough to clue the elders into what was happening, and soon they began the process of organizing people to unpack food and straighten appearances to give the best first impression.


    A spray of wind whipped up a temporary screen of sand, and once it had settled again Ade knew they had arrived at the meeting point. The sand ahead gave way to a vast plaza of paved stone, polished smooth with time, but defiantly refusing to be buried by the surrounding dunes. In the center of the plaza a giant column stood tall, metal and marble mixed together with magic and skill into a monument that had been hidden for centuries if not millennia. It was an impressive sight, and a saddening one as it bore witness to all that time and destruction took.


    As the first to arrive, Ade found himself helping set up the largest tent they had in the small section of shade provided by the monument. He had lost track of the other pathfinders once he was no longer immersing himself in a trance, but it had felt like seven or eight other tribes would arrive, if all went well. Not long after, the first of the strangers arrived, and polite conversation began to pick up, even though it was a bit stilted by the act of waiting for other people to show up for things to begin.


    In the end, only seven tribes had shown up, as well as a small group of adventurers led by a Nomad who had gone his own way. Despite their initial irritation, the adventurers had been mollified by the knowledge that they were still closer to their destination than they would have been otherwise and had decided to hear Ade out in return, even if they hadn¡¯t fully understood the significance of a Conclave.


    ¡°It has been many years since a conclave has been called, and never by one so young or with such a small following.¡¯ As the largest tribe, the Glass Gems were given the honor of presiding over the conclave, at their own insistence. Ade felt a bit insulted at their casual dismissal of his tribe¡¯s position as instigators, but the Gems¡¯ ability to work desert sand into beautiful works of glass gave them a level of economic power that allowed them to be aggressive. Even with Ade¡¯s assurance that the unexpected detour would not cost the Glass Gems any time, and despite the general sense of support for his claim that the other Pathfinders provided, the Gem Elders were still belligerently insisting they had been wronged. Some whispered words from Elder Shan made Ade realize that the Gems were likely less offended than they appeared, but were simply hoping to improve their position if any bargaining were to occur. The Vipers and the Cartiers were more amicable, and the rest of the nameless tribe was simply grateful for the interaction and the small gifts of hospitality they had received. Refilling their barrels of water from the Endless Jug had cost Ade nothing, and had bought them enough goodwill that Ade was already counting on their support for his plan.


    ¡°It has been many years since the nomads have needed a conclave to call. We have established a reputation across the Sands as both competent and independent, and that has allowed us to go about our business freely. Each tribe has risen or fallen on its own merits as they challenge the Sands. But what our tribe encountered is not the indifferent danger of the desert, but the directed cruelty and malice of mankind. If our tribe is the smallest to have managed to call a conclave, then it is only proof that our need is great indeed.¡± Ade answered calmly, trying to move the conversation forwards while deflecting the subtle contempt that the Glass Gem elders were showing him. While all of the tribes had their Elders and Pathfinders present for the meeting, Ade and the rest of his tribe were put into a strange situation, Even though Elders Gomer, Rao, and the rest were present, the task of representing their tribe fell to Ade, as a conclave was something that a Pathfinder had to make happen. Having the elders present provided a surprising amount of emotional support for Ade, as did knowing that he only had a single goal for this meeting. He was young, and his tribe was small, and that meant he was looked down on, but it did add a large amount of weight to his claim of a great danger.


    The Glass Gems didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°And? The overblown panic of an inexperienced boy isn¡¯t worth losing any money over. You claim to have saved us some time, boy, but if we sit around listening to you blather all day then we will lose that time and more. The other tribe elders seemed uncomfortable at the straight-up dismissal of Ade, and would likely be willing to both stay and help, even if it was just to leverage some artifacts out of the tribe or convince some of the more skilled members present to switch over. Even before the meeting had begun, Ade had noticed two pretty girls from the unnamed tribe cornering and flirting with Bob. If they paid off the adventurers for their aid it would give the nomads a large enough force to attack Zaros, and maybe succeed, but Ade didn¡¯t want this to come down to maybes.


    ¡°It all comes down to money with you, doesn¡¯t it.¡± He asked, keeping his voice neutral, leaving it as a simple question instead of a hidden insult. Just as the Gem Elders began to nod or answer in the affirmative, Ade cut them off.


    ¡°Eight silver pieces. That is the price that a young nomad woman was selling for in Zaros. Too ugly and too spirited for a better price. Men go for over two gold pieces, as we are supposedly better adapted to the harsh desert conditions, but the auctioneers only sell broken slaves, men who have been whipped to an inch of their life, shackled so they can barely move, and are thus helpless before their new masters until they are assured of a broken spirit and loyalty. Our tribe was lucky to get out alive, aided by intelligent beasts and the sacrificial help of the slaves themselves, but how many other tribes weren¡¯t so lucky? And more, what will happen if Zaros is left to grow. Slavery might be illegal, but without the support of the people in power, those laws are simply words on the wind. How many old governors would want a nubile bedwarmer forced to do whatever they want, at no cost to them? How many bigoted towns have you visited where curious children might just slip away to never be seen again. How long until the untouchable reputation we have developed shattered, leaving us easy picking for anyone who wants an extra handful of gold?¡±


    A long moment of silence stretched as Ade stared down the Head Elder. From the corner of his eye, he watched as everyone else reacted to his words. The Gem Elders were still adversarial, but other leaders had been swayed, and Ade knew that the rumors and tales they picked up from his fellow tribesmen would only help cement their agreement.


    Trusting Elder Gomer''s interpretation of the Glass Gem¡¯s anger, Ade decided to add one final incentive. ¡°Besides, once we burn Zaros to the ground and free all the slaves that still leaves the question of what to do with the Oasis, something everyone present will get a say in.


    ¡°Fine.¡± The elder grumbled. ¡°But if we¡¯re doing this, if we''re fighting against a mercenary with an army and a fortified city we¡¯re going to have to go about this the right way.


    ¡°I have a few ideas with regards to that.¡± Ade admitted, and the campaign to take back the Oasis was begun.

 Chapter 59: Kairen

    Small motes of sand swirled through the air, carried by a soft breeze. Most people were simply glad for the wind and the fresh air it brought, their clothes covering enough skin for the sand to be ignored. A few grandmothers warned of an oncoming storm, but their children and grandchildren simply smiled indulgently. Sandstorms had come to Zaros before, but the barrier that surrounded the Oasis meant that the people inside the town were hardly touched. It would get dark once the storm started blotting out sunlight, but with a torch or lamp it was easy enough to go about one''s business anyway. The rats in the town had more sense, and the few on the surface quickly abandoned their work or rushed to complete it when their master deemed their task of utmost importance. For Kairen wasn¡¯t a human or a rat, with their priorities or senses. Once a human, now a ghost, but more and more he was seeing himself as the Oasis itself, becoming more integrated and attached to it. Occasionally he still had dreams of finding a way to break his boundaries, to go explore the world, or even to somehow achieve resurrection and return to his old life, but those thoughts were mostly idle dreams nowadays. With his rats acting as translators he had the human connections he had wished for when he first died, and those same humans needed him to help them, even if they didn¡¯t fully understand what his help would cost.


    The ghost was now constantly struggling against the rituals Mr. Mage had begun. Each successive ritual had increased the pressure Kairen was under, but still he did his best to resist, putting points into his various abilities as infrequently as possible. Slowly but surely the Oasis was being shaped, and Kairen knew that eventually he would need to select some of the horrendous fourth-tier options that would begin to turn the unwilling prisoners in Zaros into true slaves. The one upside was that his resistance had been constant enough that neither Mr. Mage nor any other official in Zaros suspected sabotage. After all, it wasn¡¯t like Oases were common enough for them to have practical experience with shaping them to their will. The intelligent rats had caused more of a stir, especially when Kairen had convinced them to spend their lives helping the slaves and nomads escape. Seeing the rats coordinate and act with humanlike intelligence meant that Zar spared no effort in exterminating any rat he could get his hands on. Combined with the many rats who died during the fighting it made for a heavy price paid in blood, but it had needed to be paid. Kairen had apologized to the rats once things had calmed down, but a bit of nonverbal discussion revealed they bore him no ill will. Individual rats might have their own identities, but they were not humans, and were more than happy to put the will of the collective before their individual desires. Usually, that simply meant providing food to those desert rats which could not feed themselves, but it also meant that Kairen had the rat¡¯s absolute trust when he asked them for their aid. For all that the rats were intelligent and learning more every day, they still trusted Kairen to have a better understanding of the big picture, backed up from those early days of him having them draw pictures in the sand. Kairen was humbled and awed by that sincere display of trust, and he wasn''t the only one.


    Before the revolt, the slaves had had a positive opinion of the rats, who Kairen had arranged to steal food for the slaves and had been the primary translators between the ghost and the humans. But after the slaves were freed and heard tales of just how many rats died to tip the scales in the fight, they began to see the desert rats in a new light. These rodents were not simply pets, not simply tools of an invisible master, but were beings worthy of respect and consideration in their own right. The slaves'' attitude towards the rats had shifted from grateful tolerance to genuine appreciation, an emotion that was both reciprocated and conveyed through rudimentary writing. Trapped underground in the hidden cave system the rats had conducted, the escaped slaves didn¡¯t have much to occupy their time while they waited for the right moment to reveal themselves. Sources of light were hard to come by, and conversation was the most common way to pass the time. While the rats could technically leave at any time, the slavers were far more vigilant than they had ever been before, and most of the rats were content to simply wait out the crusade for vengeance, feasting on their stores of stolen food and hanging around the humans, slowly improving their understanding of language as they were conversed with and not simply used to write messages for Kairen.


    Kairen loved observing the growing camaraderie, but as the only being able to freely spy on the slavers he found himself spending most of the time on the surface, listening to rumors and reading reports, hoping for something that would change everything.


    That soft wind, ignored by so many, was the mysterious quantity that Kairen had been waiting for. It was rare for him to be able to interact with the world, and so the fact that this wind was able to reach him told him that it was something special. A quick signal had the slaves and rats scrambling to get ready, donning scraps of armor and padded cloth and making sure the few improvised weapons they had were close at hand. The rats began excavating a tunnel to the surface, Narrow at first, but wider and wider as more rats arrived to lend their aid.


    Kairen noticed all the activity, but let it pass by. He had been the one to make the call, and that meant he had to know what was happening and what the best time to act would be. Kairen knew that this could easily lead to the deaths of everyone following him, but he also didn¡¯t think their food supplies would last all that much longer. A great supply of food for a colony of rats didn''t go nearly as far when it was repurposed for feeding a much larger group of humans. When faced with the choice between letting others starve or going out fighting, Kairen knew this was the better choice, he just hoped for a miracle.


    It wasn''t a miracle, but Kairen soon realized that there was more going on than just the breeze. Tied into the Oasis as he was, Kairen had always had a vague sense of his home, and now he had the strangest feeling that he was moving. It felt like he was sliding sideways, and slowly sinking at the same time, but neither of those things was physically happening. People were walking around normally, and the precarious piles of products the vendors had displayed for sale were still haphazardly standing. Kairen took a moment to try and orient himself, and then walked towards the edge of the Oasis in the direction it felt like he was sliding towards. Placing his hand up against the barrier, he looked out into the desert, hoping to see what could possibly be causing this strange feeling.


    It took a couple of minutes of waiting, but soon Kairen could see the sandstorm the grandmothers had warned about approaching from the direction he was looking in. More surprising was the line of camel and horse riders just ahead of the storm, barely outracing it as they sped towards the Oasis. They clearly weren¡¯t a slave caravan returning from a raid, and while the possibility remained that they were customers coming to buy some slaves, Kairen didn¡¯t think that was likely, and neither did the guards.


    Already the call to action was raised, and mercenaries were hurriedly putting on their equipment while making their way to the defensive fortifications. Behind them, Kairen saw the few slaves out and about on business rapidly being hurried back to their homes. It seemed the slavers had learned from their last fight and didn¡¯t want any slaves in a position to cause havoc or tip the scales of the fight. Unfortunately for them, Kairen had a whole force of armed slaves just waiting for his signal. Still, he held off on giving it. He wanted to see how well these strangers would fight, or if they would simply negotiate their way inside before giving the call to action.


    Closer and closer the riders came, completely ignoring the various calls to stop that were yelled from the walls. With the storm behind them, that was somewhat understandable, but the refusal to answer was a step too far for some of the more on edge guards. Kairen didn¡¯t see who fired the first shot, but soon a haphazard volley of arrows was arcing its way out to the strangers, who split to ride around the attack, pulling out their own bows at the same time At their commanders signal they loosed, only for most of the arrows to be deflected by the barrier and its arrow deflection upgrade. Cursing his luck, Kairen dashed away from the wall, making his way through the city and underground.


    ¡°There are some people attacking the walls from outside. Everyone has been sent into their house for their own safety. Go up, but stay quiet and don¡¯t act until the right time."


    Kairen knew that for some of the slaves, waiting would simply be impossible. Armed and ready to fight back, they wouldn¡¯t want to simply hide on the surface but would seek out and attack the closest slaver. With the fight going on and the storm picking up Kairen hoped that they would either be unable to find anyone or that their actions would go unnoticed, but he wasn¡¯t about to count on it. Instead, he focused his attention on his dear rats, sending them to the various gatehouses to try and disrupt things. His rats wouldn¡¯t be able to open or close the gates by themselves, but they could certainly make a nuisance of themselves at the right moment.


    Satisfied for now, Kairen returned to the wall, only to blink in surprise as he saw a few arrows make their way over the wall, rattling against the stone while one lucky shot managed to impale itself in a poor man¡¯s bicep.


    While Kairen had gotten the upgrade that would deflect arrows, it seemed like it truly was an upgrade, not its own separate thing. The storm had fully arrived at this point, and Kairen could see great sheets of sand being pressed up against the barrier. The barrier did what it could to keep the storm out, but it was simply too strong, and some wind and sand snuck through. More importantly, it meant the barrier didn¡¯t have enough energy to stop all the arrows that the attackers were firing, and Kairen could see that more than a few of the defenders were sporting a wound already. A judicious application of some healing potion kept them in the fight, but Kairen could almost feel the morale dropping with every shot fired. A few of those present with bows fired back, but their shots were simply swallowed up in the shifting storm, with no way to tell if they had hit anything at all. It seemed unlikely, as the shots coming in were continuing unabated, a constant pitter-patter that slowly wore away at the defenders.


    DOOM! With a sound both heard and felt, the barrier buckled for a split second, letting in a wave of sand that left the mercenaries spitting and rubbing their eyes. Kairen didn¡¯t need to worry about those issues, but whatever had hit the barrier had left him with the beginning of a headache.


    DOOM! The barrier was struck again, and Kairen fell to his knees from the spike of pain. Those hits had hurt, and yet they also left Kairen confused. Something was obviously attacking the barrier, but Kairen didn¡¯t know what it could be. The barrier was upgraded to stop arrows and storms and sunlight, but almost everything else could simply pass right through, even slaves no matter how much Mr. Mage pushed for that specific upgrade. In fact, the only other thing that Kairen could think of that interacted with the Barrier was monsters.


    DOOM! A third strike broke the barrier, sharply increasing Kairen¡¯s pain and letting whatever was out there through. Now free to strike wherever the storm surged forwards, quickly covering the city even as its intensity died down some.


    WHUMP! Just because the monster-specific barrier was down didn¡¯t mean whatever was out there was free to roam about the Oasis. First, it had to get through the solid gate, as well as the group of soldiers behind it that was slowly gathering. Word had quickly spread that this was the only monster present, and guards were quickly pulled from other stations on the wall to give the slavers enough fighting power to drive it off. Or, as one pessimistic fighter muttered, enough fodder to keep it in one place until the real powerhouses could come.


    The gate shuddered again under the assault of the monster and everyone gripped their weapons tighter as the door began to splinter. Finding the group of waiting rats, Kairen quickly got them in position to cause as much chaos as possible.


    With a thundering crash, the gate broke open, one half coming completely free of its hinges and falling down to the ground with a final sounding thud. With the gatehouse providing some cover from the storm, the monster was revealed for the first time.


    It was a giant scorpion, with oversized claws on its front pincers and three separate tails waving behind it. The main body came to three feet off the ground, and it was large enough around that a dozen men could have eaten dinner off its back, were it not for the prehensile stingers that slowly waved overhead. Its eyes gleamed with the intelligence of a beast that had lived for centuries, even as one eye slowly dripped ichor from around an embedded arrow.


    Seeing their chance, the guard captain present gave the command. ¡°Attack!¡± At his guidance, every fighter present surged forwards, only for their charge to be halted in its infancy by a sudden onslaught of bites to ankles and calves. None of the bites were serious or even that painful, but the distraction broke up the charge enough that the slavers met the scorpion in a staggered wave instead of a coordinated strike. While the size and power of the claws were immense, clearly what the scorpion had used to break into the Oasis, the monster preferred to use them for defense in combat, keeping the various fighters at bay while it went on the offensive with its stingers. All three stingers seemed able to reach far beyond the point where they should have come to an end, and whatever motivating force they had was enough to propel them through most of the shields or armor pieces that stood in their way. A great cheer went up from the soldiers when a titanic blow from an axe was enough to cut off one stinger that had overextended, but their celebration was short-lived. The scorpion stopped its assault for a moment, but it didn¡¯t seem inclined to retreat, even with the loss of one of its tails. Instead, it simply waited patiently, taking some small wounds from the archers and slingers present even as the injured tail shriveled and fell off completely. Not long after that, Two new tails sprang up from the same location, shorter and smaller than the other pair, but still wickedly sharp and fully capable of striking. Satisfied with its new weapons, the scorpion once more began to press forwards, and the battle quickly picked up pitch.


    As fascinating as the battle was, Kairen knew that there had to be more going on. He hadn¡¯t seen any sign of those riders recently, not since the scorpion had appeared, and the slaves were still waiting for his commands. Before he met up with them, Kairen quickly sped through the city, checking the rest of the entrances to give himself a fuller picture of the current situation.


    It turned out that the guards fighting the scorpion were unlikely to get any reinforcements. Not because other monsters were attacking the rest of the guards, but simply because they were already dead, killed by a large group of nomads that had entered the city. Kairen recognized a few of them from the previous day of fighting, but the rest were new and seemed to have enough identifying symbols to be considered six or seven different groups.


    Kairen was grateful that the nomads hadn¡¯t completely forgotten about the rest of the slaves that hadn¡¯t managed to escape that day, and he was even more grateful when he saw just what the nomads were focusing their energy on. Instead of fighting the guards, the Nomads had simply taken over a single entrance. Once they had entered the city their focus had turned from fighting against the guards to evacuating as many people as possible Kairen saw that most of the people they were rescuing were slaves, but the nomads didn''t seem to discriminate. Anyone who didn¡¯t fight them was quickly escorted out of the city, while anyone who did try and fight back was put down with prejudice.


    While Kairen knew that more than a few of his rescued slaves were looking forward to a fight, he realized that this was his best chance of getting them out safely. Neither Zar nor Mr. Mage had made an appearance in the fight yet, and more than a few of the better fighters were probably still in the palace instead of having been sent to the walls. None of the slaves would be able to fight back against those human monsters, but Kairen had a hunch that even those powerful fighters would struggle against the giant scorpion. With his orders conveyed, he once more made his way back to the west wall to watch the fight, only to pause while still several houses out. The scorpion now had a total of seven tails, shorter and smaller than it had originally had, but still long enough to outrange the melee fighters and strong enough to inflict large amounts of damage. More than that, the increased number of stingers and the rapidly diminishing number of fighters meant that it was unlikely the slavers would get any more chances to cut off additional stingers, for all the good it had done them. A few scratches on the main carapace were the only other progress that the fighters had made, but none of the large ones were deep, and the loss of ichor through the smaller cuts was negligible.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Already the survivors began to give way, not wanting to give the monster free reign, but not wanting to get in range of its deadly attacks. The scorpion didn¡¯t seem to mind the extra space, and instead of charging after the soldiers, instead turned its focus on the empty houses nearest to it. Once again it brought its large talons to bear, and soon the closest walls were demolished, the weight of the roof warping the other walls into unusability as it collapsed. At the same time, Kairen felt a strange pain like heartburn, or perhaps the prank beef jerky his father had bought him once. Pulling up his information screen, Kairen was shocked to see that his points had gone down, without him buying anything. It was a first, and Kairen had a sudden suspicion that there was an underlying reason that monsters attacked Oases other than them just being targets of opportunity. A pulse of pain from his earlier headache had Kairen check his barrier upgrades, only to realize that they were gone. The destruction of the barrier that the scorpion had caused had somehow been enough to tear away its power, and that power was likely what was fueling the Scorpion¡¯s rampage. Turning his attention back to the beast, Kairen watched as the cuts it had received over the course of the fight slowly healed up. Whatever energy it was stealing from the Oasis was giving this monster a degree of regeneration that would make defeating it nigh Impossible, and Kairen was grateful that the nomads were putting all their focus into helping people leave, even if they had been the ones to lure the monster here in the first place. A niggling fear in the back of Kairen¡¯s mind worried what would happen if the scorpion wasn¡¯t driven off by Zar and his elites. Would the monster simply continue destroying things until there was nothing left? If so, what would happen to him as a ghost? He was clearly tied to this place, so would he simply start over from scratch or would he die again once the destruction of the Oasis was complete. There wasn¡¯t much Kairen could do either way at the moment, and he was far more willing to die again for a good cause than he had been the first time around, especially if the scorpion killed Zar first.


    Fortunately for Kairen, it looked like he might just get his wish. Zar had shown up, accompanied by Mr. Mage and the rest of the stronger slavers, and Kairen watched on as they demonstrated the capabilities of a lifelong adventurer and fighter. The viperlike strikes of the scorpion¡¯s tail were constant but never seemed to land, the fighters either blocking or swaying around every poisoned stinger. Their attacks back did little to harm the armored monster, but Kairen had seen each elite hit much harder and realized that they were simply testing the limits of the monster before fully committing to any one attack.


    Mr. Mage might have been mostly focused on ritual magic, but his skill with the arcane was still impressive, Kairen watched as the mage sent a half dozen spells flying in rapid succession, each one a different element as he tried to figure out the best strategy for bringing the monster down.


    The scorpion wasn¡¯t content to simply let the fighters toy with it though, and revealed that it had been holding back earlier as well. With a sudden snap forwards one of the stingers launched an attack. Only this attack was not aimed at any one fighter, but instead, a large sword that was slowly returning from attacking a leg joint. Instinctively the fighter turned his blade to meet this new threat, only to realize too late that that was exactly what the scorpion had wanted. The instinctive strike was quick and true, and the stinger easily separated from the tail, but it hadn¡¯t lost any of its momentum. Flying forwards quickly, the stinger continued far past the range the tails had demonstrated, only coming to a stop when it was fully buried in Mr. Mage¡¯s chest. Next to him Rao quickly decided that discretion was the better part of valor, especially once it became clear that the monster simply was too large and too durable for any of his earth manipulation abilities to do much against it.


    With the monster''s trick revealed and its threat level compensated for, Zar and his followers stopped holding back. It didn¡¯t take long for them to surround the scorpion and the blows began to rain down. The entire bouquet of stingers was soon cut off once more, with the goal of eventually reducing each individual stinger to a small enough size and power level to be ignorable. Meanwhile, the scorpion had lost two of its legs to powerful strikes from the sword wielder it had co-opted for its unique attack, the man¡¯s guilt driving him to push past his limits. Taking serious damage from all sides and with its tail rendered almost inoperable, the scorpion began to squeeze its claws, ignoring the fact that there was a thick layer of crystal buildup surrounding them.


    First one, then the other pincer managed to break their crystal surroundings, sending shards flying everywhere. Most simply embedded themselves in the walls or rubble of nearby buildings, and a good portion ended up inside the scorpion, the speed and sharpness of the shards enough to penetrate its shell. Even with all those missed shots, enough of its emergency projectiles had managed to hit Zar and the other fighters. Only one of them had been hit in a fatal location, but all of their injuries combined were enough to cost them the edge they had been relying on.


    Injured and worried about being killed by the monster, the weaker fighters began to break away, their morale broken and their fear of their cruel leader overruled by their terror of the deadly monster in front of them.


    ¡°Cowards!¡± Zar yelled, but he was too busy fending off a constant stream of tail strikes from the scorpion to do much more than curse his supposed allies. Even then he might have been able to disengage from the fight and reset at another location with more support, but for the interference of a third party. Falling out of the sky, an aging rat landed on top of Zar¡¯s helmet with a light clank, and immediately began to move, maneuvering around to cover the slaver¡¯s face and be as big of a distraction as possible. The fight was chaotic, but Kairen could still recognize the greying coat of his first follower, Alpha. The old rat might not have been as young or as fast as he once was, but he still had the energy needed to move around, and he considered all of the other rats in the Oasis his descendants, whether they came from his lineage or not. Even though the rats had willingly spent their lives to aid Kairen with his goals and desires, that didn¡¯t take away from the fact that those rats had still died, and Alpha had seen his chance to take back his pound of flesh. Mostly metaphorically, but somewhat literally as his claws scrambled away at Zar¡¯s eyes. It only took the mercenary a second to reach up and snap the small animal¡¯s neck, but that second of distraction was more than enough time.


    With grim satisfaction, Kairen watched as no less than five stingers punctured Zar¡¯s armor, three in his torso and one each in his left leg and right arm. Between the blood loss and the injected venom, Zar was immediately incapacitated and fell to the ground, where a maddened stomp from the giant arachnid ended his vile life.


    The scorpion seemed content to focus on destroying its surroundings, and Kairen left it to that, moving over to watch the nomads were still focused on getting as many slaves out of the city as possible, although they didn¡¯t hesitate to fight the few people who objected to their actions, be they slave owners or mercenary guards. Otherwise, they were content to let everyone flee into the desert, little kindness that may be. A part of Kairen hoped that the nomads would change their plans once he let them know Zar was dead, but it didn¡¯t take him long to realize just how foolish that thought was. The scorpion was clearly an ancient monster from the depths of the Shifting Sands, and the only reason it was present was that the nomads had lured it here, likely pulling the Oasis itself deeper into the Sands in the process. The only reason they would bother to lure such a monster here was that they didn¡¯t think they could defeat Zar without its help, and if whatever monster they lured was on the same power level as someone they couldn¡¯t beat it really wouldn¡¯t convince them to turn around and fight it. After all, as far as they knew, sooner or later the monster would be forced to return to the depths of the desert, and the nomads could freely come back to clean up the survivors Unfortunately for them, they didn¡¯t realize just how much damage the scorpion was doing to the integrity of the Oasis itself. One by one Kairen could feel his upgrades being torn away, as the scorpion diligently found and destroyed any object with a speck of power in it.


    Looking at the mass of captives celebrating their new freedom as they waited by the edge of the Oasis, Kairen knew that even if this particular gambit did cost him his life he would still consider it worth it. Better for there to be no Oasis at all than one that aided slavers. Besides, he had just witnessed the end of Zar Bloodwake.


    Leaving the nomads to their work, and instructing the rats to go along with them, Kairen meandered his way back to the scorpion to keep an eye on it when he was interrupted by a high-pitched scream. Moving as fast as he could, he soon found the source.


    The monster had found a new target, a young girl no older than eight, who had apparently been hiding in her house with her parents when the scorpion arrived to tear it all down. Only her small stature allowed her to survive the collapsing walls and ceiling unscathed, and her terror-fueled flight allowed her to open up a small gap between her and the scorpion. It didn''t take long for the monster to start chasing her, and despite her cutting through every narrow gap she could, her hunter was relentless, using sheer power to keep up with her.


    Her jewelry-decorated arms told Kairen that she wasn''t a slave child, and for a moment he felt a surge of callous bitterness before his mind caught up with his initial reaction. No matter how much he might have come to hate slavers and everyone who supported a system that treated people like they were no more than things, this girl wasn''t responsible for any of that. She had never bought someone at the auction, and if she had ordered slaves around it was only because she had been following the example her parents had set for her. None of that was cause enough to leave her to be murdered by a monster. And while Kairen couldn¡¯t necessarily stop the scorpion by himself, that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t help the girl out in a couple of ways.


    The easiest way to aid the girl was to act as a guide. She might not be able to see him, but it didn¡¯t take long for Kairen to arrange an obvious trail of rats, guiding her along a path that would hopefully slow the scorpion down as it tried to follow her. Trying to slow the monster down directly proved to be futile, the multitude of tails more than able to deal with the few rats that were willing to try and buy some extra time for the girl. Realizing that even with his help the girl wouldn''t be able to make it to the nomads before the scorpion caught her, Kairen adjusted the direction he was leading her. He had one last card left to play.


    It took seconds that seemed like minutes, but soon enough the girl had made it to the center of the Oasis and had snuck through a gap in the wall surrounding the pool of water. Zar had put a large number of resources into protecting his source of liquid life, and the giant scorpion found itself unable to simply bulldoze through this obstacle like it had the many houses before. Enraged, its claws went to work, hammering and tearing at the barrier of earth and stone that blocked its path. Soon it found itself standing on the other side of a pile of rubble, only to see that its prey had vanished.


    Unfortunately, the girl could only hold her breath for so long, and she was forced to come up for another breath of air before the scorpion lost interest and left for elsewhere. Kairen silently cursed. He had been hopeful that his idea might have worked, but this was the first time that the girl had ever been in a body of water. Without knowing how to swim or how to properly hold her breath, she simply wasn¡¯t able to stay under long enough.


    At first, it seemed like simply being in the water would be enough to deter the monster from following her. Instead of charging straight in, it circled the pool for a bit, before realizing that there was no easy way for it to reach the girl from the shore. Cautiously it extended one leg into the water, which frothed and smoked as it vigorously objected to the presence of something so antithetical to what Kairen had grown the Oasis into. Alarmed, the scorpion drew its leg back, only to pause when it realized that the damage was merely superficial. The monster simply was too old and powerful. Slowly at first, the monster waded into the pool, carefully moving towards the girl it was so fixated on. Sensing her peril, the girl began to swim away, but she didn¡¯t have the strength to quickly wade through the water, nor the skill to swim. Wreathed in smoke, the scorpion drew closer and closer, its tails curling back in anticipation of a vicious strike.


    Now! Kairen thought, and spent all the points he had saved up. Every upgrade had increased the amount of potential he could hold before having to make a choice, and while the upgrades themselves might have been worn away by the destructive power of the scorpion, that pool of points had sat untouched. In a single moment, Kairen spent them all on an upgrade he had passed over for far too long. Pool depth was one of the earlier upgrades, but Zar had taken over the Oasisbefore Kairen really managed to invest in it much. And once any upgrades to the Oasis would benefit this killer and avowed enemy, Kairen had done his best to purchase the least useful upgrades possible. Giving the Oasis protection against arrows and sunlight while refusing to grant zar access to any more water to distribute. It had been mostly petty, especially knowing that Zar did still benefit from his other choices, but Kairen was grateful now for his decision. Ina rumbling instant, the pool doubled, then tripled in depth. The ground that both the scorpion and the girl had been standing on vanished, replaced by water that left all six legs scrambling for footing. The girl was light enough to mostly float, aided by panicked thrashing, but the scorpion was far heavier thanks to its almost impenetrable armor. With a single outraged hiss, it sank out of sight, its eyes glaring at the world that had betrayed it. Landing solidly on the bottom of the pool it began to vibrate in anger, and whatever it was doing struck Kairen to his core. It was all he could to remain conscious as the scorpion began to march towards the edge of the Oasis looking to pull itself out, only to come face to face with a shear wall There was no gentle sloping bottom the scorpion could use to escape, and once again it doubled its metaphysical aggression. Somewhat adjusted to the pain, Kairen managed to focus his attention on the scorpion, the unnatural clarity of the water allowing him to see it as it pitted its strength against the magic of the Osis.


    All around him the effects were clear to see as the magic was slowly leached out of the Oasis. The ground turned back to sand and plants withered as the Oasis slowly shrunk in size, and the storm outside began to weave its way through the defenses, choking the air and blinding the eyes. The pool itself shrank, becoming smaller and smaller, and shallower and shallower. If things continued at this pace then all too soon the scorpion would be the victor of this contest, standing victorious over a patch of sand indistinguishable from the rest of the desert.


    Baring his teeth in what was half a smile, half a defiant challenge, Kairen opened up this upgrade screen and once more sent the scorpion tumbling downwards. If it had been solely the ghost against the monster he would have certainly lost, but even now he could see, hear, and feel the nomads going about their rescue mission. Without Zar to either rally the mercenaries or keep them in line they had either died quickly to the more organized force or had taken advantage of the chaos to run away. Now the nomad¡¯s focus was on taking care of the slaves they had rescued, feeding them and tending to their injured while setting up or taking over shelters to protect them from the sandstorm that was still picking up pressure. For both the nomads and the slaves, today was a day that mattered, and Kairen was able to feed off of that significance. For all that the scorpion was tearing the Oasis down, the people living here were keeping it alive, and Kairen was more than happy to return the favor and keep them alive and the monster at bay.


    The constant pain of having an integral part of him torn away and rebuilt was agonizing, and it took Kairen a minute to realize that it had stopped after an hour of enduring it. It took another minute for Kairen to come back to his senses, but once he did, he carefully looked around. The most obvious feature present was the large lake his pool had expanded into. At some point, Kairen had stopped paying attention to the exact level of upgrade he had reached and had simply focused on pouring all of the significance he had received into expanding the pool. It was now wider and deeper than Kairen could ever remember it being, having grown enough to swallow a good portion of the town that once surrounded it. Its shores were clear as well, a combination of the constant remodeling of the Oasis and the sandstorm having replaced the rubble or standing structures with a new layer of sand that led right up to the edge of the water. Huddled away from the lake was a cluster of tents, and Kairen watched as curious heads began to pop out now that the storm was gone. Kairen guessed that with the scorpion finally dead the Oasis was no longer trapped in the depths of the Sands it had been pulled to and had returned to a location where the weather wasn¡¯t quite as extreme.


    Just before Kairen finished his survey movement by his shore caught his attention. The girl he had tried to save had just crawled to shore, half-drowned and soaked to the bone, but still alive. Helping her move was a small flotilla of rats, both the initial group he had used to guide her to his pool, along with others he had subconsciously asked to help her later. Fortunately for the girl, the battle between the Oasis and the monster had occurred on the spiritual plane and not the physical one, and the scorpion had never managed to get close enough to the surface to strike at her while she was riding out the battle. The only sign she had been present was her hair. While it had once been either a dark brown or black, Kairen couldn¡¯t quite remember, now it glowed white, gleaming in a way that spoke of magic and mystery. She might not have come out of the fight, the same as she entered it, but at least she was alive.

 Chapter 60: Epilogue

    The sun rose slowly, taking its time as it meandered across the sky, letting the people below relax and enjoy the drawn out sunrise. It was a strange group that enjoyed the spectacle, consisting of a half dozen rats, three humans, and a young spirit. Their location was even more unusual, seeing as everyone present was floating on a hastily assembled raft.


    The rats chased each other in circles while the humans talked. The ghost talked as well, but only the young girl with white hair could hear him, so she spoke for him. The others simply nodded and went along with it. They had seen the truth of things, and had faith in their invisible ally.


    Along the shores of the small lake tents were being put up. Some of the tents were new, bought with windfalls of wealth. Others were old and patched over, hastily pulled out of storage to house those who needed it. When they weren¡¯t dragged away to finish their chores children played, splashing in the water and filling the air with laughter, a sound that had been all too rare recently. Sometimes a pause would strike, a lull where memories would catch up to everyone present, but it was hard to think about such things when the sun was bright and the day was young.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    It was far easier to forget about the past and simply enjoy the present. To seize each moment as it came, hoping for a brighter tomorrow while making the most of today, and never forgetting the lessons of the past.


    It was healing, the slow and steady draining of an abscess that had lingered for too long. It was mending, as slaves learned how to move limbs no longer weighed down with iron. It was love, as Nomads tended and cared for people who had lost their personhood.


    It was a fresh start, and everyone was eager to see where it would take them.

 New Story is Up

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    Rowboat


    Autonomous IntelligenceSupport the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


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    <td>Weight 120/750</td>


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